CultureShock!
A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette
Saudi
Arabia
Peter North
Harvey Tripp
f?79 Marshall Cavendish
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RBOUT TH€ S6RI6S
Culture shock is a state of disorientation that can come over
anyone who has been thrust into unknown surroundings, away
from one's comfort zone. CultureShock! is a series of trusted
and reputed guides which has, for decades, been helping
expatriates and long-term visitors to cushion the impact of
culture shock whenever they move to a new country.
Written by people who have lived in the country and
experienced culture shock themselves, the authors share all the
information necessary for anyone to cope with these feelings
of disorientation more effectively. The guides are written in a
style that is easy to read and covers a range of topics that will
arm readers with enough advice, hints and tips to make their
lives as normal as possible again.
Each book is structured in the same manner. It begins
with the first impressions that visitors will have of that city or
country. To understand a culture, one must first understand the
people— where they came from, who they are, the values and
traditions they live by, as well as their customs and etiquette.
This is covered in the first half of the book.
Then on with the practical aspects— how to settle in with
the greatest of ease. Authors walk readers through topics
such as how to find accommodation, get the utilities and
telecommunications up and running, enrol the children in
school and keep in the best of health. But that's not all. Once
the essentials are out of the way, venture out and try the food,
enjoy more of the culture and travel to other areas. Then be
immersed in the language of the country before discovering
more about the business side of things.
To round off, snippets of basic information are offered
before readers are 'tested' on customs and etiquette of the
country. Useful words and phrases, a comprehensive resource
guide and list of books for further research are also included
for easy reference.
CONT6NTS
Foreword vi
Acknowledgements viii
Map of Saudi Arabia x
Chapter MiM^^^^^^^M
First Impressions 1
Getting There 3
The Beginnings 11
The Lie of the Land... 12
Trading with the World 14
The Al Sauds 16
Saudi Arabia: the Early Days 18
The Origin of Islam 22
The Spread of Islam 28
Today's Islam 30
Pan-Arab Brotherhood:
In Formation or Disarray? 35
Sunnis and Shi'ites 38
Saudi Arabia and Israel 39
Oil and the Economy 41
The Government
of the Present Day 45
From Bedouinism to Opulence 50
The Population Explosion 50
Family Values 52
Names and Labels 54
Interaction Between
the Sexes 55
Saudi Women 59
Women and Religion 62
Acquiring an Identity 62
Women in the Workforce 65
Qur'an and the Law 67
Swapping Cultures 70
Saudi Arabia's Bedouins 71
Education 73
Chapter ^^^^^^^^^^^B
Getting to
Know the Saudis
77
The Cultural Divide
78
The Worker Bees
79
The Pecking Order
82
Long Term Immigrants
83
Separate Societies
84
Expatriate Women
86
Male Bonding
89
Dress Code for
Saudi Men
90
Dress Code for
Saudi Women
92
Dress Code for
Aliens: Men
94
Dress Code for
Aliens: Women
96
Religious Freedoms
98
Weddings and Funerals
100
Falling Foul of the Law
101
Security and Safety
102
The Ultimate Penalty
104
Paying Blood Money
106
Security of Saudi Arabia:
the Country
106
Chapter
Settling In
111
Expectations
112
Visas and Documentation
113
Pre-Arrival Checks
115
Accommodation
116
Facilities for
the Handicapped
119
Money and Banking
120
Appliances
122
Help Around
the Home
123
Travel by Car
123
Taxis
128
Postal
129
Television
130
Shopping
132
Chanter fl^^^^^^^^^^^^^R
Food and
€ntertaining
136
Traditional Fare
137
Restaurants
139
Domestic Hospitality
140
Entertaining,
Bedouin Style
142
Coffee Shops
144
Alcohol
146
Chapter H^^^^^^^^^^MJ
Sights and Sounds
of Saudi Arabia
149
Survivng the Climate
150
What Day Is It?
153
Public Holidays
156
Architecture
157
Museums
158
Literary and Visual Arts
159
Finding Your Way Around
161
The Saudi Arabian
Countryside
162
Hotels
167
Travel by Train
168
Travel by Air
168
The Number
One Attraction
169
Touring Outside
the Kingdom
176
Taking Pictures
178
Entertainment and Leisure
179
Saudis and Sport
180
Guest Workers and Sports
188
Chapter M^^^^^^^^^B
Learning Arabic
191
Speaking Arabic
192
Reading Arabic
195
Writing Arabic
195
Arabic as Spoken
by Arabs
196
Learning Arabic 197
Common Arabic expressions 198
Saudi's Second Language 199
Body Language 199
Economic Development
and the Labour Force 202
Why Can't the Saudis
Run Their Own Country? 203
Will You Be Replaced
By a Saudi? 207
Perpetual Trainees 211
Inshallah: Philosophy
or Crutch? 213
Religion in the Workplace 213
Employment Contracts 21 6
Commercial Law 220
Income Tax 221
Negative Comment 222
Getting On With the Boss 222
Who's In Business 224
Corruption 226
Further Information
on Business Contacts 227
The Bureaucracy 229
Famous People
of Saudi Arabia 237
Culture Quiz 242
Do's and Don'ts 248
Glossary 250
Resource Guide 253
Further Reading 260
About the Authors 266
Index 268
vi
FOR6UUORD
In his book The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons
in History, author Michael H Hart judged that the world's most
influential person of all time was an Arab trader who lived at
the turn of the 6th and 7th centuries in Mecca in present day
Saudi Arabia. The name of this individual was Muhammad, the
founder of the Muslim religion. To Muslims, presently 20 per
cent of the global population, Muhammad was the Prophet who
delivered God's word to the world. To non-Muslims, Muhammad
was the man who delivered the Muslim religion to the world.
Either way, Muhammad's effect on global human affairs since
his own time has been profound.
The other major influence, in terms of recent global interest
in Saudi Arabia, was the discovery on the Arabian Peninsula
of the world's biggest oil deposits. The development of the
Saudi oil fields after the 1 940s cast Saudi Arabia as the swing
supplier of the world's energy and the most influential member
of OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries).
The interaction of these two factors, Islam and oil, have made
Saudi Arabia one of the most pivotal countries on the planet.
Oil and the income it has generated has had a profound
effect on the Saudi culture in this once dirt-poor country of
limited interest to the rest of the world. In the modern era,
Saudi Arabia's economic prospects have varied with the oil
price. In 1 940s and 1 950s, as the the first oil revenue flowed
into the country, the Saudi Royal family first experimented with
conspicuous consumption in its most extreme form — nearly
driving the country bankrupt in the process. After the first
big oil price increase in 1973, Saudi Arabia spent some of
its petrodollars on national development and invested some
in Western banks. The Western banks in turn invested in
Latin American countries, which subsequently announced
an inability to repay their debts. Laundered through various
countries, these petrodollars found themselves in the accounts
of Swiss banks in the name of various unsavoury Third
World dictators — well beyond the reach of the Treasury of
Saudi Arabia, the ostensible owner of the money. The price
of oil peaked again in 1979 during the Iranian Revolution,
but then slumped over the 1980s and 1990s when Saudi
Arabia survived by deficit financing, building up a massive
vii
overseas debt. Since the oil price spike that started in around
2002, Saudi Arabia has applied the bulk of its funds from
the booming oil price into paying off its accumulated debt
and increasing its rate of development. As is common
knowledge, the oil price peaked at US$ 1 47 in mid 2008,
then quickly slumped as the great global economic
meltdown of 2008/2009 gathered pace. At time of writing
the oil price is around US$ 50. Where it will go from there
is anyone's guess.
To implement its social and physical development
programme, Saudi Arabia has, for many years, imported from
other countries a guest workforce of skilled and unskilled
labour. Saudi Arabia has a guest labour force five to six million
strong in a total population of 28 million. Opportunities are
many for guest workers inside Saudi Arabia to undertake
an enormous variety of labour contracts, occupations
and industries.
This book is principally written as an information guide
to Saudi's army of guest workers. It also offers advice and
information for those visiting the kingdom to do business, visit
family members of guest workers and many other reasons.
While the major viewpoint taken is that of the Western
visitor who has accepted employment in Saudi Arabia, or is
considering doing so, the book also contains helpful hints for
guest workers from other countries. It offers thumbnail sketches
of important historical accounts that have created present-
day cultural attitudes, and includes information of day-to-day
events within Saudi Arabia.
As the title of the book suggests, an assignment in Saudi Arabia
is an experience in the clash of cultures. Saudi Arabia is located
in a part of the world where the cultural mix is pronounced.
Three of the world's dominant religions — Islam, Christianity
and Judaism— originated in these ancient lands. In this region,
Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism and various other
'isms' uneasily rub shoulders against each other on a daily basis.
Culture shock is a part of life in Saudi Arabia, both for the guest
workers and the indigenous population. Avoiding the pitfalls
of culture shock and getting the best out of your time in Saudi
Arabia are two of the main themes of this book.
RCKNOUUL6DG6M6NTS
With thanks for contributions, advice and proof-reading
from Margaret Tripp, Charles Jamieson, Anton Mayer, Joseph
Elkhorne, Ian Blain, Angela Jackson and Len Tripp.
map of snuDi nRneifl
SYRIA
SOMALIA
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
'The real meaning of travel, like that of
a conversation by the fireside, is the discovery of
oneself through contact with other people...'
—Paul Tournier, The Meaning of Persons
2 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
As one of the authors of this book, when first assigned to a
project in Saudi Arabia, the personnel agent dealing with the
paperwork jokingly referred to Saudi Arabia as a 'sandpit'.
The remark conveys the mental impression of Saudi Arabia
as an austere barren strip of land peopled by men in flowing
robes and women in black abayas, with vast expanses of
sand, oil wells, oil pipelines, big landscapes, big skies, stifling
heat and occasional camels strolling by.
On arrival, that may be pretty much the way you find
it— at least so far as the countryside was concerned. But
Riyadh— modern skyline to an ancient town.
First Impressions 3
missing from this mental picture is the ubiquitous features
of the modern world, the cosmopolitan cities of high rise
buildings, the extraordinary airports, the spectacular eastern
architectural features in mosques and public buildings, the
freeways, the traffic snarls and the shopping centres.
Most of the physical infrastructure you will see in Saudi
Arabia is modern for no better reason than almost all the
country's infrastructure has been built in the last 50 years.
This appearance contrasts starkly with attitudes, some of
which haven't changed greatly since the 7th century ad.
Saudi Arabia is a modern country with some very ancient
ways. Therein lies Saudi Arabia's culture shock.
GETTING THERE
It is just possible to enter Saudi Arabia by surface transport.
The border with Iraq is closed until the political climate
improves, but most of the other land borders are open.
Access is possible, with various degrees of difficulty, through
most of the countries with which Saudi Arabia shares land
borders, Kuwait, Jordan, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) and the island kingdom of Bahrain which is
now connected to Saudi Arabia by causeway. People have
even been known to make landfall on Saudi Arabia by dhow,
one of the preferred methods of travel of previous eras and
still operating today. But overland and seaborne entry to
and from the country is unusual,
attempted only by the more
intrepid explorers. Most people
arrive and leave by air.
Almost all visitors to Saudi
Arabia enter through one of
three airports: one on the Red
Sea coast, one in the centre
of the country and one on the
Persian Gulf coast.
For those entering the
kingdom at night through the
Eastern Province's Damman Airport, the oil bearing parts
The ' Persian Gulf ' as it is denoted
on most maps of the Middle East
is more widely known in Saudi
Arabia as the 'Arabian Gulf.
Alternatively it is often referred
to merely as The Gulf. All three
terms describe the same body of
sea water between the Arabian
Peninsula on its western coast
and Iran on its eastern coast. In
this book, we are using the term
'Persian Gulf throughout.
4 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
of Saudi Arabia passing beneath the wings may seem like a
scene from Dante's Inferno. Down below flickering orange
flares from a thousand oil wells stretch from one horizon to
the other, and out into the Persian Gulf. Even in these times
of increasing energy consciousness and concerns for global
warming, much of the waste gas associated with oil is simply
flared at the wellhead.
On flights by day, added to the same scene is the acrid
black smoke from burning this dirty gas. Usually, a robust
north-west wind carries these fumes away, spreading
them across the northern waters of the Indian Ocean.
But in still weather, the gulf coast may be wreathed in
a grey canopy of sulphurous fumes.
Further west, over the land of the interior and away
from the oil fields on the east coast, the orange desert
vista stretches mostly uninterrupted from one horizon to
another. Occasionally, dusty towns and a few large cities
pass under wings. From the air, most of Saudi Arabia
appears hot, hostile and featureless desert terrain as it
truly is at ground level.
The Immigration Card
Like most places, entry to Saudi Arabia starts with flight
attendants distributing immigration cards shortly before
arrival. By the standards of immigration cards worldwide,
Saudi Arabia's are remarkably user-unfriendly. An idea
Saudi Arabian Airlines, also
known as Saudia, is the
Kingdom's domestic and
international carrier. A number
of Asian, European and US
airlines service the three
major Saudi Airports to the
two coastlines and the central
region. Saudi Arabia can also
be reached via hub airlines
from the smaller Gulf states
like Bahrain, Dubai and other
UAE airports.
Flying In
Along the western edge of the
Arabian Peninsula is a mountain
range running parallell to the
Red Sea coast. The highest part
of this range, in the south-west
corner of the peninsula near
Saudi's border with Yemen, is
the Asir region— the wettest part
of the country. Sufficient rain
falls here to plant and harvest
vegetables. From the air, by Saudi
standards, the Asir countryside
looks uncharacteristically green.
First Impressions 5
of how Saudis think can be gleaned from the fact that
the smallest field width on the form is the one requiring the
most letters— your address in Saudi Arabia. If you are staying
somewhere like the Hilton, the form will allow just enough
room to provide a brief address; otherwise you will have to
abbreviate or attach a microchip.
The other field of major interest on the card is that
asking you to state your religion. While back home one's
religion may be a secret about which others are not legally
entitled to ask, Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries
in the world which asks you to declare your religious
allegiances on arrival. This might immediately suggest to
you, should you have been unaware of it, that in this place,
religion matters.
Saudis, like most religious people, consider their own
religion the one true faith. Though Saudi Muslim clergy may
come down hard on alternative religions, Islam does afford
some respect for the older religions, such as Christianity to
which it is related. Saudis tend to believe that everyone has
a religion of some sort. Since they pray at least five times a
day, most Saudis don't contemplate belief systems based on
the absence of any god at all.
Presented with the choice on the immigration card, that
asks you to summarise the state of your religious beliefs in a
space with room for about ten letters, you might be unwise
to write 'atheist' in this field. It is better to declare one's faith
in a false prophet than in no prophet at all. On the other
hand, Saudis are unlikely to be interested in the fine print
of your religious beliefs. Saudi Arabia doesn't really need to
know, for example, whether you are a Seventh Day Adventist
or a Member of the Church of the New Order. The best
response, unless you happen to be a Muslim, is something
brief like 'Christian', 'Hindu' or 'Taoist'. It almost goes without
saying that 'Judaism' is not the appropriate word to enter in
this field.
On the Ground
Disembarking from the plane, your first taste of the exotic
delights of the Middle East will be the airport itself. Sheiks,
6 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
kings, emirs, sultans and presidents of the Middle East tend
to rival each other in expending public money (which, under
their system of government, is effectively their own money)
on extravagant public buildings. Modern-day Middle East
potentates attempt to outdo each other in the grandeur
of their airports, seemingly driven by the need to keep up
with the Joneses, or in the case of the movers and sheiks
of the Middle East, the Al Sauds. The lavish airports of the
Middle East have enabled architects of renown to design
and construct some of the modern world's most impressive
major public buildings.
The three major airports in
Saudi Arabia are King Abdulaziz
International Airport in Jeddah,
King Khaled International
Airport in Riyadh and King
Fahd International Airport
in Dammam. Two of these
airports have at least one feature
that ranks as the biggest in
the world.
King Abdulaziz International
Airport services the western
side of the country, including
Mecca, and is ranked by at least
one authority as the world's
most beautiful airport. It includes a special terminal, the
Hajj Terminal, used for handling Mecca's annual influx of
pilgrims. The Hajj Terminal, open only for one month of the
year during the pilgrim season, is the world's biggest single
terminal by area, capable of handling 80,000 travellers
per day.
King Khaled Airport in Riyadh serves travellers to the
centre of the country. King Khaled is the world's biggest
airport by area— a total of 81 square miles— the size
of a large town. It also has the world's biggest airport
mosque— a building capable of holding 5,000 worshippers,
with room for another 5,000 in balconies adjacent to the
building. The airport was built bigger than it needed to
The Middle Eastern countries
of the Arabian Peninsula are
extraordinarily over-serviced by
airports. For example, five of the
seven emirates of the United Arab
Emirates (UAE)— Abu Dhabi,
Dubai, Fujairah, Sharjah and Ras
al Khaimah — have international
airports; Abu Dhabi now having
two with its second airport at
Al Ain. The maximum distance
between any two airports of the
single nation of the UAE is 180
km, with the airports at Dubai
and Sharjah within 20 km of
each other.
First Impressions 7
The cavernous duty-free shopping area of the King Khaled Airport in Riyadh.
be. One third of King Khaled Airport has not been used
since it was first opened.
King Fahd Airport at Damman, opened in 1 999 to replace
the run-down Dhahran International Airport, serves the
eastern seaboard of Saudi Arabia, including the main oil
producing areas and Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state-owned
oil company.
At the Immigration Desk
Entering Saudi Arabia is likely to be more arduous than
in most places. Of course experiences vary from visit to
visit and from one immigration official to the next. But by
and large, Saudi Arabia would have to be one of the more
nerve-wracking countries in which to clear immigration
and customs.
Any number of stories can be told regarded the demeanour
of Saudi immigration officials who might seem, to the
traveller, to have been hand-picked for their brusqueness
and lack of humour. Entering the country, you may queue
up for an hour to clear immigration, and take another hour
to depart the airport. You will be told to form orderly lines
(something that Saudis themselves are not very good at) then
continually be shifted to different lines. When you reach the
head of the line, having perhaps been moved from one line
8 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
or another, you may be told you are in the wrong line, and
told to head back to the top of a different line. Needless to
say, the correct procedure is not to remonstrate. You'll clear
immigration eventually.
Having received a passport stamp, the next step in the
entry procedure is to pass through customs. This, once again,
is more testing in Saudi Arabia than in most places. Not
only does Saudi Arabia have an extensive list of prohibited
imports, its customs officials are proportionately more
diligent at finding them. Customs officials in Saudi Arabia
are more to likely to ask you to open your bags than most
places. Alcohol, as it is well known, cannot legally be brought
into Saudi Arabia. Less well known prohibited imports are
a long list of seemingly innocuous products such as games
of chance like dice and backgammon, statutes or carvings
of objects in human and animal form, as well as chess sets,
radio transmitters and military equipment— not merely
ordinance, but uniforms too.
Do The Crime, Do The Time
Alcohol-related products, including wine making kits, books about
wine making or food items such as vanilla extract are prohibited
items. A friend of one of the authors lost a debate with a customs
official that a packet of champagne yeast in his bag (perhaps packed
by someone else without his knowledge or permission) was really
for making bread. A couple of nights in the slammer was the penalty
for this offence.
Plus loss of yeast.
Porno photos, defined as naked flesh anywhere between
neck and knees, are also not advisable imports. (If you really
need alcohol, porno pictures and champagne yeast, obtaining
them inside Saudi Arabia on the black market is a less risky
method of procurement).
Magazines with dubious political content are also looked
at with disfavour, in particular those containing articles that
could possibly be interpreted as critical of the host country.
Video tapes and DVD's are likely to be taken away for on-
the-spot inspection. The contents of laptop computers may
First Impressions 9
also be subject to scrutiny. Importing contraceptives is
also banned, though they are obtainable over the counter
in the kingdom. For a while after they were introduced,
cell phones with cameras were also illegal. At time of
writing, we believe this rule has now been relaxed. But
it will pay to check in advance with your travel agent, or
Saudi employer.
Knowing all this (because you bought this book), you will
not be carrying any of these items. When challenged, you will
able to tell the customs official you have nothing to declare. In
theory you should then pass through customs, possibly after
a bag inspection, and escape into the countryside, thinking
to yourself, "From here, things can only get better."
The chances are, they will!
LAND AND HISTORV
OF SAUDI ARABIA
1
'Come men of Riyadh, Here I am,
Abdulazziz ibn Abdulrahman of
the House of Saud, Your rightful ruler.'
—Battle cry of Ibn Saud, Saudi Arabia's first king, on
defeating his rivals, the Al Rashid tribe at Riyadh in 1901
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 11
THE BEGINNINGS
According to most historians, human civilisation first started
when settlements based on permanent agriculture replaced
preceding hunter gatherer societies. Sometime around 3000-
4000 bc, in an area around present-day Kuwait and northern
Saudi Arabia, a tribe of people known as the Sumerians arose,
moved north and settled in a then-fertile region between the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers in present-day Iraq.
Sumeria was probably the first place in which people in
the world formed a self sufficient city state. Over a period of
about one thousand years, the Sumerians invented advances
such as writing, the wheel, the calendar, the seven day week,
the 24-hour day and the 360-degree circle. The Sumerian
tongue— unrelated to any language of the modern world-
was probably the world's first written language.
That civilisations rise and fall has been the mark of
history. Sumerian society stayed more or less intact for a
long time, but eventually succumbed to an invading race:
the Akkadians based in Akkad, the city that later became
Babylon. Culturally and administratively, the Sumerians were
far more advanced than their conquerors. As the two societies
merged, the Akkadians adopted most of the Sumerian
customs, culture and knowledge with the exception of the
Sumerian language.
For a while, the Akkadians and Sumerians maintained a
fractious relationship within their mixed society, reminiscent
12 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
of the disharmonies between Arabs and Jews in the present
day. The Akkadians spoke a Semitic tongue that is probably
the genesis of the present-day languages of Hebrew and
Arabic. As an identifiable race, the Sumerians, along with
their language, were absorbed into Akkadian culture and
disappeared from the pages of history. But their great
civilising advances in administration, law, written language,
agriculture and science survived them.
Forces of nature rather than forces of man eventually
put paid to early settlements in Mesopotamia. The history
of many semi-arid regions has proved that one effect
of long periods of irrigated agriculture is environmental
degradation. Contaminated by salt, the Sumerian fields
became increasingly unfertile. Forests disappeared, and along
with them, the wildlife that Sumerians used to supplement
their diet. Rainfall declined and Mesopotamia depopulated.
Today's salt marshes of Iraq serve as a reminder of the long-
term consequences of the process.
While the area north of the Arabian Peninsula, and the
peninsula itself, fell into decline, similar agriculture-based
societies advanced in places like Egypt, the Indus valley,
China and even the Andes. With the decline of Sumeria,
the Arabian Peninsula, being as desolate then as it is now,
is thought to have been almost uninhabited over thousands
of years. After their pivotal role in the foundation of human
history, the lightly inhabited lands of the Arabian Peninsula
became best known as trading routes from the Indies, the
countries of the horn of Africa and the Gulf states, to Asia
Minor and Europe.
THE LIE OF THE LAND...
Saudi Arabia is the biggest country in the Middle East and
the 13th biggest country in the world. About the size of
Western Europe and one quarter the area of the USA, Saudi
Arabia occupies approximately 80 per cent of the Arabian
Peninsula— a large slab of land, roughly rectangular in
shape that juts into the northern seas of the Indian Ocean.
Saudi Arabia is hot and dry, and water is scarce. Annual
rainfall is low almost everywhere. The country has no
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 13
Desert landscape is a common feature in Saudi Arabia.
permanent rivers or lakes. The desert to the north, the Nafud,
extends as far as Syria and into Iraq. In the south-east, the
Rub al'Khali— the 'Empty Quarter'— is one of the most arid
regions on Earth. In Saudi parlance, the Empty Quarter is
simply known as 'The Sands'. Between the deserts of the
north and south, arid plains of gravelly sand stretch across
the centre of the country. The eastern seaboard along the
Persian Gulf is mainly flat with rolling dunes. To the west,
a range of low mountains parallels the Red Sea coast, from
Jordan in the north to the hill country of the Asir region in the
far south-west. Only here, near the Yemen border, is there
significant rainfall.
The total length of Saudi Arabia's land borders are
4,400 km (2,700 miles). Bordering countries are Jordan, Iraq,
and Kuwait to the north, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) and Oman to the south-east, and the Republic of
Yemen to the south. Saudi Arabia is also joined by a
24-km (1 5.5-mile) causeway /bridge to the island kingdom of
Bahrain in the Persian Gulf (called the Arabian Gulf by the
Saudis!) The official border between these two states is set
at 8 km along the causeway from Bahrain, and 1 6 km from
Saudi Arabia. In addition to its land borders, Saudi Arabia has
a total of 2,500 km (1 ,550 miles) of coastline on two different
14 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
waterways. Egypt, Sudan and Somalia lie to the west across
the Red Sea. Iran lies to the east across the Persian Gulf.
Winston's Hiccup
In the tradition of shifting lifestyles from Bedouin times, locations of
boundaries are, for the most part, not precisely defined nor completely
agreed. A most intriguing piece of haphazard cartography in Saudi
Arabian recent history is its boundary with Jordan. At this point, Saudi
Arabia seems to intrude into Jordan and out again for no apparent
reason. According to contemporary legend, possibly apocryphal, this
kink was due to some inaccurate drafting by the British wartime prime
minister, Winston Churchill who was establishing the boundaries of
the world one afternoon after a very pleasant lunch. According to
this story, Churchill's hand slipped after he hiccupped from too much
brandy, thereby bequeathing to Saudi Arabia several thousand square
kilometres of not very valuable Jordanian land. From then on this
tract of desert was termed by some as 'Winston's Hiccup'. No one
has yet gone to war to right this wrong.
TRADING WITH THE WORLD
With its parched and burning sands, for much of its history
Saudi Arabia has been a harsh country that offered little and
received little in return. At times, as its history unfolded, it
could take advantage of its strategic position between east
and west. At other times, it seemed a worthless piece of real
estate, a desert peninsula leading to nowhere— a vast mass
of desolate empty land sticking out like a blunt finger into
the Arabian Sea.
Despite the harsh environment, a small population did
make a living on the Arabian Peninsula, built towns, and
practised limited agriculture. In addition, the Arabs were
traders. For over a thousand years until around ad 1 500,
Arabia provided a major trading route from India and
Africa to Europe. Spices were landed on the west coast
of the Persian Gulf, loaded onto camels and hauled to
present-day Syria to join ancient Phoenician trading routes
to the Mediterranean. Goods were also shipped across
the narrow straits at the bottom of the Red Sea between
modern-day Yemen and eastern Africa. In addition, the
Arabian Peninsula produced a few of its own products that
were also shipped to European markets— pearls from the
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 15
Persian Gulf and frankincense from the gnarled grey trees
of present-day Oman.
The period between the 7th- 10th centuries was the most
powerful era of Arab history. This was a golden age of Arab
literature, astronomy, mathematics and influence. Inspired
by the exploits of Muhammad, the Islamic fundamentalists of
the time spread the Islamic message as far west as Morocco
and Spain, into Asia Minor, and to the Far East.
As its power waned after the Middle Ages, the Arab
world fell under the influence of a number of conquerors,
in particular the Ottoman Turks who stayed on the Arabian
Peninsula until the end of the World War I . Meanwhile, events
elsewhere in the world diminished the importance of the Arab
trading routes. In 1497, the intrepid Portuguese navigator,
Vasco de Gama, became the first European to round the Cape
of Good Hope en route to India. After that, ocean-going sailing
ships operated by the great European East India trading
companies, and later steamships, bypassed overland trading
routes through the Arabian Peninsula. The Suez Canal, which
opened in 1 869, put an end to the traditional overland trade
routes for all time.
In terms of its interest to the rest of the world, the Arabian
Peninsula probably reached its lowest ebb during the
19th century. Curiosity rather than commercial interest
tempted a handful of European explorers to Arabia,
particularly a number of intrepid Englishmen who absorbed
the Arab ways and reported their adventures back home.
The best known of them was 1 9th century's Richard Burton,
the indefatigable traveller of Africa who disguised himself
as a pilgrim, learned Arabic (he mastered around 30 or so
languages) and visited Mecca by passing himself off as an
Arab. These were the salad days of the Royal Geographical
Society. The adventures of returning travellers were of great
interest to the aristocracy of London.
In the early 20th Century, this tradition continued.
T E Lawrence, 'Pasha' Glubb, St John Philby and Captain
William Shakespear, who all roamed the deserts with tribes
of Arabia, were amongst other Englishmen who succumbed
to the fascinations of the Arabian Peninsula. Typical of the
16 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
breed, Shakespear was described in despatches as 'soldier
by training; diplomat by profession; amateur photographer,
botanist and geographer by inclination; and adventurer
at heart'.
THE AL SAUDS
The modern state of Saudi Arabia had its origins in the
Bedouin tribes that roamed the Arabian Peninsula. In 1 774,
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab,
a fundamentalist religious
leader formed an alliance with
Muhammad bin Saud, a local
ruler in the Najd area near
Riyadh. Al Wahhab and the
Al Sauds pledged to pool their
religious and military resources
to spread Wahhab 's religious message and Al Saud military
protection to surrounding tribes and settlements.
For a century and a half after the rise of Wahhabism,
power in the area of present-day Saudi Arabia rested with
three main family groups— the Al Sauds, the Rashids and the
Hashemites— whose respective influence waxed and waned
with the strength of their leaders. In 1802, Al Saud forces
captured Mecca, which they subsequently lost, regained
and lost again. By the end of the 1 9th century, the Al Saud's
Wahhabism
Named after its founder
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahab,
Wahhabism is a fundamentalist
religion that does not take kindly
to new knowledge. It preached a
puritanical approach to faith and
its religious practices.
History of saudi arabi
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 17
fortunes reached their lowest ebb. The tribe had retreated to
Kuwait where they were given refuge by the Al-Sabah family
who rule Kuwait to this day. Tradition and debts of honour
die slowly in the Arab world. The Al Sauds returned the
100-year-old favour to the Al Sabah family when Kuwait was
invaded by Iraq in the Gulf War of 1 991 .
From its low point in the first days of the 20th century, the
fortunes of the Al Sauds took a turn for the better. In 1 901 ,
21 -year-old Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud
(more commonly known as Ibn Saud) emerged from Kuwait
to avenge the defeat of his father at the hands of the Rashids.
Ibn Saud undertook an intrepid journey accompanied by
about 40 adventurous companions, setting out by camel
on a long trip to Riyadh with the object of reconquering the
city. Against the odds, and greatly outnumbered by Rashid
forces, Ibn Saud and his stalwarts crept into the walled city
at night and overcame the defenders.
After reconquering Riyadh and consolidating for a while,
Ibn Saud turned his attention to the garrisons of the Turks
on the Arabian Peninsula's eastern seaboard. In the early
20th century, Ottoman influence was in general decline
across the Middle East. In 1913, Ibn Saud's forces overcame
Turkish resistance in the area around present-day Dhahran.
At around the same time, the Hashemite family— associated
with the enigmatic Briton T E Lawrence (aka Lawrence of
Arabia)— was pushing the Turks out of regions on the Red
Sea coast. The Ottoman cause was further undermined when
Turkey aligned itself with the losing side in World War I. At
the end of the war, with Franco-British troops in Istanbul,
the 500-year-old Ottoman Empire was brought to a close.
In the 1 920s, preoccupied with defending its own borders
from the Greeks in the west and the Armenians in the east,
the newly installed government of the Republic of Turkey
was not greatly interested in recapturing its dusty domains
on the Arabian Peninsula.
The demise of the Turks left the Hashemites and Al Sauds
as the two dominant forces on the Arabian Peninsula. Before
too long, these two competing erstwhile British allies ended
up fighting each other. Much to the chagrin of Lawrence, the
18 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Hashemites were forced to retreat to Jordan, where the family
established the monarchy that has continued to this day.
By 1 924, the Al Sauds had gained control of Mecca and by
1932, they controlled most of present-day Saudi Arabia.
Ibn Saud then declared himself king of a new nation that he
named Saudi Arabia, after himself.
A Mutual Alliance
The alliance between 'men of the pen' (the Wahhabi clerics) and
'men of the sword' (the Al Saud warriors) has endured to the
present day. The alliance is symbolised on the Saudi coat of arms
as a pair of crossed swords beneath a script that proclaims God
as Allah and Muhammad as the Prophet. Each year, to celebrate
this alliance, the now much dispersed Saudi Royal Family holds
a reunion in Riyadh featuring, as its centrepiece, a ceremonial
sword dance.
SAUDI ARABIA: THE EARLY DAYS
The new nation of Saudi Arabia was the size of Western
Europe, stretching from Transjordan and Palestine in the
north to the shores of the Arabian Sea to the south. From east
to west, it spanned the Arabian Peninsula, from the Persian
Gulf to the Red Sea. Only a few territories around the edges of
the country— the present-day Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab
Emirates (UAE), Oman and Yemen— escaped absorption into
the new kingdom. Other than the vastness of its territory, the
new nation didn't have much going for it. It was two-thirds
desert, and desperately poor. But it did occupy a strategic
position in the world because it commanded two major sea
routes: the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.
Developed by British interests in Persia, the first commercial
oil well in the Middle East was brought into production in
1908. To maintain the flow of Persian oil to market, and in
particular to the Royal Navy, the British needed to secure its
sea lanes in the Persian Gulf. Well before World War I, the
British had forged an alliance with Ibn Saud. In return for
keeping the western shores of the Persian Gulf secure for
British shipping, Ibn Saud could, from time to time, cadge
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 19
a little money from the British Treasury and arms from
its armoury.
Oil prospecting in Saudi Arabia started in the 1 920s when
Britain's Eastern General Syndicate obtained a concession to
explore for oil on the east coast of Saudi Arabia. They found
oil. But having announced that oil had been 'discovered', the
Eastern General Syndicate failed to develop the find and the
concession lapsed.
In the first half of the 20th century, Arabia lived a
subsistence lifestyle. A small amount of trading and pearling
was conducted through the settlements on the Persian Gulf and
the Red Sea coast. Riyadh, near the centre of the country, was
based on its large oasis. But overall, the climate was too harsh
and rainfall too erratic to support a large population. Bedouin
tribes moved their meagre flocks of camels, goats and sheep
from one patch of skimpy grass to another. Water was their
most precious commodity and the Bedouins jealously guarded
their waterholes.
Though Saudi Arabia was still desperately poor,
unimaginable riches lay just around the corner or more
precisely, a few hundred yards beneath the desert. Commercial
oil production from the western side of the Persian Gulf first
20 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
got underway in the 1930s, not in Saudi Arabia but in the
offshore sheikdom of Bahrain, about 40 km from the Saudi
Coast. As things turned out, the Bahrain oilfield was a small
one by subsequent Middle East standards.
Ibn Saud tried to get the British to take his oil interests
seriously. But the Great Depression was underway in the
West and the British weren't interested in acquiring a
country that the colonialists of the 19th century would
have snapped up without hesitation. Undeterred, Ibn Saud
approached the Americans — at the time the world leaders
in the oil prospecting. In 1933, the Standard Oil Company
of California acquired the concession to prospect for Saudi
Arabian oil for the bargain basement price of US$ 250,000
plus royalties on oil produced. Aramco (the Arabian American
Oil Company), a consortium of American oil companies,
was established to find and develop Saudi oil. The world's
largest, most productive and easiest to exploit oil fields were
about to get underway, culminating in the Ghawar oil field
discovered in 1 948 and brought into commercial production
in 1951 . Approximately 280 km long and 25 km wide, the
Ghawar field is the biggest oil field ever discovered and
likely to remain so. Sixty years later, it is still in production,
producing 5 million barrels of oil per day, or around 7 per
cent of world oil supply.
For all his Bedouin background, Ibn Saud proved
commercially astute. Typical was his position in World
War II. Saudi Arabia's commercial allies, Britain and the
US, were on the same side against the Axis powers. In
accordance with the traditional Bedouin practice of backing
only winners, Ibn Saud bided his time, remaining neutral
while he established which way the wind was blowing.
Though Saudi Arabia allowed the US to build an air base in
Dhahran, it remained uncommitted until the last days of the
war. Then, in March 1945, with the allied victory in Europe
only a month away, Saudi Arabia declared war on Germany
and Japan— in time, the King no doubt hoped, to avoid the
conflict but share the spoils of victory.
In Saudi Arabia, royalties went to royalty. Since the King
had conquered the country, he owned the country. At first
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 21
the Saudi aristocracy spent their newly won oil money, as
they knew best: on themselves. They built luxurious palaces,
played the gaming tables of Monte Carlo, took many wives
and did little to develop their country or improve the lot of
the community. The infrastructure of the country and the
education of its people advanced little from its state under
the collection of disparate sheikdoms of 50 years before.
The Kings of Saudi Arabia
In 1 953, Ibn Saud died, leaving behind an enigmatic memory.
To his admirers, he was the great uniting force of his country.
To his detractors, he was a ruthless conqueror who was cruel
to the vanquished, abused women, celebrated ignorance and
wasted the country's resources in frivolous consumption.
Whichever he was, after his death he left behind a country
ill-equipped for the modern world.
The first king after the death of Ibn Saud was his eldest
son, also called Saud. King Saud's rule was marked by
extravagance, a declining economy, an increasing gap
between rich and poor, and ultimately social unrest. Saudis
travelling within and outside the kingdom during this period
earned an enduring reputation for ostentatious wealth and
wasteful expenditure.
After some years of Saud's erratic rule, the Saudi Royal
Family progressively engineered his downfall. In 1958.
King Saud was persuaded to transfer to his half brother,
Crown Prince Faisal, executive powers in foreign and internal
affairs. In 1959, Faisal introduced an austerity programme
that, among other things, cut subsidies to the Royal Family,
balanced the budget, and stabilised the currency. In 1962,
Faisal was appointed prime minister. In 1 964, King Saud was
forced to abdicate and Faisal was crowned king.
During his reign, King Faisal strove to find the middle
ground between his Western associates who urged him to
increase the pace of modernisation and the Ulema — the
Council of Senior Islamic Scholars — who urged him to
maintain the status quo. Faisal cautiously introduced social
reforms such as free community health care and the right of
females to receive an education. Faisal's progressive agenda
22 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
and fiscally responsible government received widespread
support both within Saudi Arabia and outside his country.
In 1974, Time magazine selected King Faisal as its 'Man of
the Year'.
Though King Faisal had international support, inside
Saudi Arabia his reforms were opposed by religious
fundamentalists. One measure in particular that earned the
reprobation of his critics was the introduction of television
into Saudi Arabia in 1965. Religious fundamentalists
considered TV salacious (perhaps with some cause). When
opposition to TV was at its height, one of Faisal's nephews
was shot and killed by police after leading an assault on a
TV station. In 1 975, in a tit-for-tat killing, Faisal was himself
shot and killed by the dead nephew's brother, who was
publicly beheaded for his trouble.
After Faisal's assassination, another of Ibn Saud's sons,
Faisal's half brother Khaled, was installed on the throne.
After King Khaled died in 1979, the next monarch was
King Fahd, another son of Ibn Saud. Fahd died in 2005 after
suffering a stroke in 1995 and spending the last few years
of his reign convalescing in a clinic in Switzerland. Fahd was
succeeded by his half brother, King Abdullah. By that time
Abdullah, in his role as crown prince, had already been the
country's effective leader for ten years.
On his coronation Abdullah — one of the last surviving sons
of Ibn Saud— assumed the titles "servant of the holy places"
and "custodian of the two holy mosques" (Mecca and Medina)
to suggest his influence would extend beyond the borders of
his own country and into the wider Moslem world.
THE ORIGIN OF ISLAM
To understand what makes Saudi Arabia tick, one needs at
least a background knowledge of Islam's history and beliefs.
Beginning in the 7th century ad, Islam was the last of the
world's great religions to get underway.
Like Christianity and Buddhism, Islam was the inspiration
of a single individual— the prophet Muhammad— though
later scholars and clerics also made their contributions.
Muhammad was born in ad 570 to a poor family in Mecca.
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 23
At the time, Mecca was an important trading post for
caravans travelling to Europe and throughout the Middle East.
Muhammad started his working life as a shepherd. When he
was about 1 5 years old, he was hired by a distant and older
female cousin, Khadija, who ran a trading business into Asia
Minor. In this role, before the end of his teens, Muhammad
travelled as far afield as Damascus, impressing Khadija with
his skills as a trader.
When he reached 25, Khadija, who was 40 years old and
a widow, offered to marry him and he accepted. Muhammad
was Khadija's third husband and she was his first wife.
Muhammad and Khadija had two sons who died before
they reached two years of age and one daughter, Fatima,
who survived into adulthood. Fatima became an important
historical figure after the Prophet's death in ad 632.
The Split of the Faith
Islam divided into two denominations immediately after Muhammad
died and even before his funeral. The Shia or Shi'ite sect believed
the first caliphate to be Ali, the husband of Muhammad's daughter
Fatima, and reputed to be the second person to embrace Islam.
Present-day Shi'ites believe the caliphate line runs only through
direct descendants of Muhammad via Ali and Fatima. (Shia or
Shi'ite derives from a shortening of Shiat Ali, meaning 'follower
of Ali'.) The Sunni sect, by contrast, believed Ali to be the fourth
caliphate, with the three caliphates who preceded him all
dying in fairly short order. The third of Sunni's caliphs, Uthman
(ad 644-656), was murdered while at prayer and Ali succeeded
him to the caliphate under dubious circumstances, with Utham's
supporters alleging that Ali was implicated in Uthman's death.
The disputants turned to violence which has marked relations
between Sunnis and Shi'ites before and since. Both sides of this
argument held the Qur'an as sacrosanct. At the Battle of Suffin, when
the Sunnis showed up with verses of the Qur'an stuck on the sharp
end of their spears, the Shi'ites were too devout to join the fight. But
fighting soon resumed. In 661 , Ali was murdered in an internecine
dispute. Later, at the Battle of Karbala in 680, Ali's son Hussein was
also killed, but Hussein's own son survived, thus perpetuating the
Shi'ite caliphate line.
To outsiders the differences of the two denominations may seem
trivial, though probably no more so than the schisms of the Christian
Church. Whatever the respective merits of these opposing claims
to the caliphate, over the centuries, rivers of blood have been shed
contesting the issues that separate these two Islamic sects.
24 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Before marrying Muhammad, Khadija had already
accumulated a significant fortune. By the time he was 30, by
trading on his own account, Muhammad had made himself a
wealthy man. By that point in his life, he had the time and money
to reflect on the meaning of life, and did so at considerable
length. It was in these reflections, Islam had its origins.
The Islamic code of conduct that Muhammad drafted was
much influenced by Christianity, Judaism and the pagan
religions that vied for influence on the Arabian Peninsula at
the time he lived. Muhammad's new religion amalgamated
elements of these existing religions with some bold new
ideas of its own. Islam adopted monotheism, the central
idea of Christianity and Judaism that there was only one
God, rather than the range of Gods for different purposes
of the pagan religions. To Islamic scholars, both Christianity
and Judaism compromised their monotheistic character by
clouding the status of God with quasi-god figures. In this
view, Christianity with its Holy Spirit, the Virgin Birth and
the Son of God, enshrined interactions between God and
humans in much the same way as the pagan religions of
the Greeks and the Romans. Islam, by contrast, stripped
religion down to its barest essentials: one God and one major
prophet— Muhammad himself, not the Son of God, merely
a man selected by God to pass his word on to the rest of
mankind. Since Islam drew from Christianity which itself
drew from Judaism, Islam recognised both Jesus Christ and
Judaism's Abraham as Prophets of God, though not quite on
the same rank as Muhammad himself.
Of all the established religions in Arabia in the
7th century, Christianity provided Muhammad with his
strongest influences. The core idea of Lent, for example,
was installed as Ramadan in the Islamic calendar. Both
Lent and Ramadan are periods of abstinence and religious
introspection. The method by which the two prophets,
Christ and Muhammad, received their instructions from God
was also similar. Christ retired in solitude to a mountain to
communicate with the Almighty. Muhammad retreated to a
cave near Mecca and received God's instruction through an
intermediary, the Archangel Gabriel. Christ's experiences
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 25
were recorded by his disciples and incorporated into the
Bible. Muhammad (who is thought to have been illiterate)
later related the messages of Archangel Gabriel to scribes
who then passed them onto the rest of mankind through the
Qur'an, the Holy Book of Islam.
Muhammad was undoubtedly a charismatic character
who inspired loyalty and self-belief. The Islamic religion
was simple and held appeal. Nevertheless, Muhammad's
religious revival started unpromisingly. Like Christ before him,
Muhammad found his life threatened by the establishment.
The merchants of Mecca regarded Muhammad as a dangerous
radical. But unlike Christ who paid for religious dissidence
with his life, Muhammad retreated about 400 km (250 miles)
north of Mecca to the city of Medina, where religious ideas
were more fluid and the establishment less entrenched.
Muhammad arrived in Medina on 24 September 622 ad,
the date that is now the first day of the Islamic calendar.
He announced himself as God's Prophet and soon attracted
a following. He stayed in Medina for seven years, building
his strength and debilitating his enemies by plundering the
caravans sent north by the merchants in Mecca as they passed
by Medina en route to the Mediterranean and Asia Minor.
Muhammad was a capable desert fighter and military
strategist. His military valour and religious zeal won over the
local tribes around Medina. His conquests of the Meccans
laid weight to his declarations that God was on his side. Every
victory over his enemy rendered Muhammad's claims to be
God's messenger more credible.
Muhammad established a religious power base in Medina
but Mecca was the centre of religion in Arabia, and the
most powerful settlement in the region. It was the place to
which Muhammad had to return to if his religious ambitions
were to be realised. In ad 630, Muhammad led his army to
Mecca, captured the city and became Mecca's undisputed
leader. Muhammad was clearly a winner and so was his
new religion. Recruits flocked to the cause.
Though Islam adopted beliefs from other religions, it also
incorporated its own unique features to suit Muhammad's
own circumstances and those of the wider community.
26 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Polygamy and promiscuity were common practices in pre-
Islam Arabia. Times were violent, and there was a general
shortage of men. After his wife Khadija died, Muhammad
accumulated several wives, some of them widows from
slain followers. Thus equipped with female companions,
Muhammad decreed that in the new religion, men could take
up to four wives at a time on the proviso that they could all
be kept in reasonable comfort. Islam recognised the rights
of both parties of the marriage to divorce, stipulating that
divorce could not be allowed on frivolous grounds, such as
lack of looks.
The religious day was set as Friday to distinguish the
holy day of the new religion from Judaism (Saturday) and
Christianity (Sunday).
In Judaism of the time, women veiled their faces and
covered their limbs in public to protect women from the
prying eyes of men. Muhammad's rules of Islam merely
followed this practice.
A common belief of all the religions of the region —
Christianity, Judaism, paganism and Islam— was that their
gods dwelt in the sky above their heads rather than in the
earth beneath their feet. Many religions have laid great
store in objects that appear to arrive from the sky, as if cast
down by gods. Meteorites, in particular, have been treasured
as religious icons by a number of the world's religions.
By the time Muhammad was developing the Muslim religion, a
black glossy meteorite known as the Hajar ul Aswad, blistered
by fire as it burned through the atmosphere in some distant
era before coming to rest on the Arabian sands, had been
sanctified for over 1 ,000 years as the most religious object
in Arabia. Well before Islam arrived on the scene, Mecca had
already become a destination for pilgrims who visited the city
to pay homage to the Hajar ul Aswad. By then, pilgrimages
were already a mainstay of the Meccan economy. Muhammad
merely adopted reverence for the Hajar ul Aswad artefact for
Islam. Today, this black stone, residing atop a metre-high
plinth built into a small stone structure called the Ka'bah, rates
as Islam's holiest icon in its holiest temple, the Great Mosque
of Mecca.
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 27
The Hajar ul Aswad is one of the holiest relics of Islam and resides within
the Ka'abah.
Five Pillars of Islam
Muhammad laid down the rules of conduct that have survived
to the present day as the five pillars of Islam:
■ shahadah Bearing witness that there is no other God
than Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet
■ salat Everyone should pray five times a day
■ sawm Fasting between sunrise to sunset during
the month of Ramadan
■ zakat Giving 2.5 per cent of one's assets to charity
■ hajj Believers must try to make a pilgrimage to
Mecca once in their lifetime
The rules had various origins and served various purposes.
Shahadah
According to Muhammad, the Archangel Gabriel declared that
God had chosen him, Muhammad, as his messenger on earth
for all mankind. That Allah is God, and that Muhammad is his
prophet is the fundamental belief of the Muslim faith.
Salat
There are various accounts for the requirement to pray five
times a day. One is that Muhammad introduced frequent
28 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
praying as a disciplinary measure for his armies. Another
is that, Gabriel took Muhammad to Paradise where God
demanded Muhammad and his followers pray 500 times
a day. But prodded by Moses, Muhammad bargained God
down to five times a day.
Sawm
The idea of fasting for the month of Ramadan was borrowed
from the Christian idea of Lent. Muhammad's proscribed the
holy month of Ramadan— 30 days in the 1 2-month, 354-day
Islamic calendar— as the month for fasting, abstaining and
religious reflection
Zakat
Saudi Arabia has no income tax, but zakat is a form of tax that
looks, at first glance, to be a low impost (2.5 per cent), but
really may be considerably higher since it is levied on assets
rather than income. It is a tax of conscience that is meant to
be paid by Muslims, and is not levied on guest workers.
H W
The procedure laid down by Muhammad was, and still is,
that pilgrims make their once-per-lifetime pilgrimage (hajj)
to Mecca where they are obliged to perform various rituals.
The hajj has to be undertaken in the last month of the Muslim
calendar, the month of Dhu al-Hijjah. This was, and still is, an
economic measure to boost the Meccan economy. Those who
have made the pilgrimage once in their lifetime are entitled
to attach the suffix hajji to their name, a status symbol in
Islamic culture.
THE SPREAD OF ISLAM
The Christian religion spread by ideology, whereas Islam
spread by a combination of ideology, military conquest and
trade. No other religion in recorded history spread as quickly
as Islam. In ad 635, five years after its inception, the forces
of Islam captured Damascus; in ad 636, Jerusalem and by
ad 641 , Alexandria (then the capital of Egypt) . By ad 650, Islamic
forces had reached Afghanistan and India in the east, and
30 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Tripoli in the west. The Arab-Islamic empire then stretched
an east-west distance of about 5,000 km. By contrast,
Christianity took hundreds of years to become a predominant
religion. The first Roman emperor who converted to
Christianity was Constantine in the year ad 321 .
Over the 1 00 years after Muhammed's death, Islamic influence
expanded into southern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and what is
now Pakistan. While political boundaries have ebbed and flowed
in the intervening centuries, the religious map remains much the
same now as it was then, except that Arab traders later added
Malaysia and Indonesia to the Islamic club.
Arab civilisation during the Middle Ages produced many
innovations not the least of which was mathematics based
on the decimal system and the concept of 'zero'. Arab
numerology, now universally adopted, greatly simplified
arithmetical operations compared to the system of Roman
numerals that it replaced. (It is much easier to multiply
338 by 8 than to multiply CCCXXXVIII by VIII.) The Arabs
also developed algebra and trigonometry and excelled in
medicine, astronomy and the arts.
In the Middle Ages, Jews in Europe were mercilessly
persecuted by Christians. In the light of present-day tensions,
it would now seem odd that European Jews of the time
welcomed the Muslim invaders as liberators. Jews of societies
the Muslims conquered in Middle Age Europe were treated
on the same level as Christians in the new society — as
second-class citizens. For Jews of the time, this was an
improvement. Christians by contrast, dropped down a peg
in the hierarchy.
TODAY S ISLAM
Today, Islam is the second biggest religion in the world after
Christianity. In 2002, 19.6 per cent of the world's population
were Muslims against about 33 per cent for Christianity. Islam
is also the world's fastest growing religion, principally because
it flourishes in countries that experience high population
growth. Few countries are expanding their populations faster
than Saudi Arabia, which has an annual population growth
rate of around 2 per cent.
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 31
Visitors to Saudi Arabia cannot help avoid being struck by
the strength of the country's religious belief. Islam makes
great demands of its flock. Saudis expect their God to take
a much more detailed and personal interest in every aspect
of their life than do even the most dedicated Christians. By
the same token, God imposes more stringent demands on
his believers.
Whereas in Christian countries, Sunday is the day for
religious activity, in Saudi Arabia, religion is scheduled for
every day of the week. Saudis make official contact with
their God five times a day through their salat prayers and
many more times by references to God that pepper normal
conversation. When Saudis greet each other, shake hands
in greeting and saying farewell, they do not say 'hello' and
'goodbye, have a good day'. When they meet you, they will
most likely say Al-Hamdulilillah ('Praise be to God'). On
leaving you. they will most likely say fee man Allah ('May God
go with you'). During a normal conversation, God may be
called to account to bless you, your children, your parents,
though normally not your wife. (In Saudi Arabia, discussion of
people's wives is akin to prying, and out of bounds in polite
conversation.) God may be asked to protect you {Allah iyatech
stir) or leave you in peace (allah ihennik). God is continually
praised {Subhamdallah) for whatever might or might not
be happening. The Saudi Arabic equivalents for 'probably'
and 'maybe' are Inshallah— 'if God wills it'— defining
the Saudi expectation that God regulates the minutiae of
everyone's life.
Maybe atheists exist in Saudi Arabia, but almost all Saudis
you will meet discharge their spiritual commitments whatever
the state of their personal beliefs. Praying is politically and
socially acceptable to a point where it is almost compulsory.
At the personal level, relaxing the daily rigorous expressions
of belief may be akin to a dangerous political statement in a
land where religious police are constantly on patrol.
Daily prayers are conducted at a mosque if one is in the
vicinity. If not, other arrangements are made. Most business
offices and public buildings have a prayer room. In the
absence of suitable facilities like mosques and prayer rooms,
32 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
a prayer mat pointing in the appropriate direction can be set
down on any convenient level surface.
In days gone by, the call to prayer was uttered by a
religious functionary, called a muezzin, who would lean out
from the balcony of the citadel of the mosque and summon
all believers within earshot to join him in prayer. Nowadays,
there are too many mosques and too few muezzins to go
round to continue this ancient practice. Instead of muezzins,
the call to prayer is made through loudspeakers by whichever
worshipper happens to reach the mosque first.
The call to prayer follows a set format that any visitor to the
country will get to know since it is repeated 1 ,825 times in a
normal year and 1 ,830 times in a leap year. The prayer call is
repetitive. It has about eight words, the same words that are
written on the Saudi flag. Freely translated, the message is
'God is great. There is no other God but God and Muhammad
is his prophet'. In Arabic, the message has a mesmerising
alliterative cadence that sounds to the non-Arabic ear
something like 'allah Akbar... al ah, ill illah illah allah'.
A royal decree has proclaimed that no point in an urban
area of Saudi Arabia can be more than 800 metres from
a mosque. But Saudi Arabia is a large country, and not
quite sufficient mosques have so far been provided to
meet this requirement. The decree on mosque spacing has
transformed mosque construction into a minor industry. The
number of mosques increased
For the sake of economics, b Y about 4 P er cent P er annum
some cuts have had to be over the period from 1995 to
made. Traditionalists amongst 2 004-about double the rate of
the country s lovers of
mosque culture have grounds population increase. By 2004
to be disappointed with the there were 50,538 mosques in
relaxation of architectural „ ,. . , . „ ,. . , . ,
oto^H^^o „* ^ n( « m n„„„ Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has
standards of contemporary
mosques. Though many also financed the construction of
graceful buildings of the past about 2 ,000 mosques in other
decorated with minarets , , ,
and Arabian arches can still countries and has built a large
be found, some modern- number of religion-based colleges
day mosques are merely and schools both at home and
Portacamp cabins that look like
construction huts equipped with abroad to introduce the young
external loudspeakers. to the faith.
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 33
One of the extreme effects of the 800-metre mosque
spacing rule is audio-overlap. In some areas where three
different versions of the prayer are delivered by three
different believers starting at three different times and singing
in three different keys. Non-Muslims can find the frequent
calls to prayer exasperating, particularly the first one for the
day at between five and six in the morning. No one in Saudi
Arabia really needs an alarm clock.
Ramadan
The most solemn event on the Islamic calendar is Ramadan —
the ninth month of the Islamic year — the month that Muslims
abstain from their earthly pleasures. Mandatory activities
including fasting from dawn to dusk, giving up smoking and
abstaining from sex. Ramadan is a period in which believers
are expected to endure long periods of introspection and
communication with their God.
The rules of fasting merit further elaboration. During
Ramadan, Muhammad prescribed that nothing should be
eaten between sunrise and sunset, but with exceptions
that Muslims can use to their advantage if they feel so
inclined. Exempt from fasting are children, the sick, the
old, menstruating females and travellers. What constitutes
34 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
a traveller is interpreted fairly generously. To some extent,
just about everyone travels somewhere each day. Therefore
most people can mount some sort of an argument that
they can be spared the rigours of fasting if they feel so
inclined. In fact, not many Saudis try to escape their fasting
obligations. During Ramadan, most Saudis try to comply
with the rules.
What Saudis give up during daylight hours in Ramadan,
they may more than make up for at night. In recent
times, the night hours of Ramadan have become a
celebration of feasting and perhaps, overindulgence. During
Ramadan, shops in places like Jeddah stay open all night.
Supermarket complexes do a roaring trade. Packed restaurants
serve food from dusk to dawn. According to apocryphal
reports, many Saudis gain weight during Ramadan, their
month of fasting.
That aside, guest workers dealing with their Arab hosts are
advised to bear the rigours of Ramadan in mind. Muslims
forgoing their oral and other pleasures may be more tense
and irritable during Ramadan than they usually are. Tempers
can fray. Fewer community services are available. Many
shops will remain closed during daylight hours. Schools
work on reduced hours. Some business people, Saudis and
expats, schedule their breaks away from the country during
Ramadan. Not only does business slow down, but tensions
during the month tend to run higher than normal.
Ramadan and the Infidel
The strictures of Ramadan are not imposed on non-believers
provided the forbidden pleasures are practised discreetly. You
can do more or less as you like in your own home, but foreigners
caught smoking, drinking or eating in public have been sent to
prison until Ramadan ends. (Once you are in captivity, you will
surely abstain from these bodily pleasures.)
Since the 354-day Islamic year is shorter than the
Gregorian year, the months of the Arabic calendar regress
through the solar years. Ramadan travels backwards through
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 35
the seasons, from summer, through spring to winter and
back to summer on an approximate 33-year cycle. When
Ramadan falls in summer, things are particularly tough on
believers. In summer, the fasting period from dawn to dusk
is longer than in winter and the non-fasting period from dusk
to dawn is shorter. In addition, the weather is hotter, making
the obligation to refrain from drinking more trying.
As the days of Ramadan pass, everyone looks forward
to the new month of Eid-el-Fitr. The first three days of
Eid-el-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan, are the biggest
holidays on the Saudi calendar. During this period, all the
activities that were given up during Ramadan are resumed
in earnest. These three days are a period of feasting,
gift-giving and general letting go; the rough equivalent of
Christmas in the Christian calendar. This is the most likely
time that you will receive a gift from your Saudi employer,
if you have one. If offered, the gift should be accepted, but
not with over-effusive thanks. Gifts tend to be accepted in
Saudi without tremendous fanfare. Generally, you are not
expected to return the favour. However, it's not a bad idea
to present some sort of token of your esteem to your Saudi
boss when returning to work from a major break, like an
overseas trip.
PAN-ARAB BROTHERHOOD:
IN FORMATION OR DISARRAY?
Arabs may feel a sense of nationhood less strongly than
say Americans or Germans. The principal source of identity
in Arab culture is the family. The extended version of the
family is the tribe. Beyond tribal identity comes the notion
of the wider tribe — the feelings of Arab brotherhood and
of belonging to an even bigger group — the Islamic world.
A further source of identity is the religious sect to which an
individual belongs. Given this combination of allegiances,
patriotism to a particular country may rank a long way from
the top in the hierarchy of belongingness. As a result, Arab
countries such as Iraq, split across tribal lines, have made
somewhat incoherent nations. Similar tribal schisms, perhaps
less pronounced, exist in Saudi Arabia.
36 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Underlying many of the troubles of the Middle East have been
disputes of boundaries decreed a century ago by foreigners
in remote cities such as London, Paris or Washington. In the
Middle East, the most obvious and vexing case of boundaries
drawn with little regard to the indigenous population was
Israel, which was partitioned from the Arab world by the West
without the consent and/or the knowledge of its Palestinian
inhabitants. Israel is a particularly poor example of the
modern-day fashion in some countries for multiculturalism.
Nearly a century after the Balfour Declaration of 1917,
which later led to the creation of Israel, the consequences
of this unilateral declaration of statehood live on, no closer
to a resolution. The Israeli problem underlies much of
the tension within Saudi Arabia itself and the Arab world
in general.
Since the end of World War II, Israel has fought four wars
with its neighbours. Egypt, Iran and Iraq have seen one
revolution each. Lebanon, the meeting point of Christianity,
Islam and Judaism was shattered by its own cultural conflicts
and twice devastated by the Israeli invasions of 1 982 and
2006. Iraq and Iran staged a re-enactment of World War I
trench warfare in which the atrocities of World War I were
repeated down to the gassing of troops in trenches. Like in
World War I, each side fought the other to a standstill with
little territorial conquest and massive loss of life on both sides.
Almost continuous civil wars have also been fought within
and across countries defined by lines on maps drawn with
little regard to traditional tribal boundaries.
It's handy to have a scapegoat for various causes and the
Arabs have supplied plenty to the Western world. In 1982,
Beirut was reduced to near rubble in Israeli air attacks.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Libya, a desert country
with a population then of about 3 million people, was
accused of plotting against the West. In 1986, Tripoli was
bombed into submission by the US with UK assistance
for an incident in a Berlin nightclub which, it was later
found, had been perpetrated by Syrians. Two Intifadas
(uprisings)— the first between 1 987 and 1 993 and the second
starting in 2000— saw Palestinian teenagers (described in
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 37
the Western press as 'terrorists') throwing stones at Israeli
battle tanks blasting away their rundown villages. Helpless
to defend against the F-l 6-delivered missiles, helicopter
gunships and tanks of the Israelis, the Palestinian teenage
terrorists became their own weapons-delivery systems,
detonating bombs strapped around their waists, thereby
blowing themselves up along with their victims. Such is the
desperation of life in the Palestinian territories.
At the turn of the century, scapegoat attention shifted from
Iraq's Saddam Hussein to the terrorists of 11 September
2001, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Al Qaeda. After that
we had the second Gulf War.
If the West has been hard on the Arab world, the Arab
world has also been hard on itself. In 1956, the Egyptian
leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser, floated the notion of a Pan-Arab
alliance to annex the Suez Canal. But these aspirations of
Arab unity were never fulfilled. Arab countries split too easily
along their traditional tribal lines. No recent event typifies
this more than Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. At issue was
an ancient territorial dispute that could never be resolved
to the satisfaction of both parties. Two claimants wanted
to own the same piece of land under which lay one of the
Middle East's largest oilfields. Iraq exercised its historical
claims to the disputed territory. The United States saw its oil
interests threatened. A massive force was mobilised. Iraq
was defeated but not conquered and remained a thorn in
the side of Western powers until the war of 2003, which saw
Saddam Hussein deposed.
Pan-Arab Brotherhood: Still Work In Progress
In 1 982, the Gulf Arabs set up the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
as a union of Gulf States along the lines of the European Union. A
major objective of the GCC was to fend off Iran, which labelled the
union as an "American Club". But the rival Arab states were unable
to unify their objectives. At the 2002 GCC summit, Saudi Arabia's
Abdullah, now king, then the Crown Prince, pondered the failure
of 20 years of attempted Arab integration. Said Abdullah:
"...we have not yet created a united military force that deters
enemies and supports friends. We have neither achieved a common
market, nor formulated a unified position on political crises."
38 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Compared to most countries in the region, Saudi Arabia
has been relatively peaceful. Throughout the conflicts in
the Middle East, self preservation has been Saudi Arabia's
dominant motive. The Al Sauds may perceive they have more
to gain out of a divided Arab world than a united one. In 1 952,
Nasser toppled King Farouk from the Egyptian throne. The
Pan-Arabian aspirations of Nasser were not well received by
the Al Sauds. The last person the Saudi Royal Family wanted
to lead the Arab world was a king-toppling Egyptian. They felt
the same about Colonel Qaddafi who, in 1 969, dispossessed
Libya's King Idris in similar circumstances. The Saudis
supported the Yemeni royalists in their fight with Nasser
and supported the Christian Phalangists against their Muslim
rivals in Lebanon. They provoked Iraq into action in the Iran-
Iraq war, lending Iraq US$ 30 billion in military aid that was
later used against the donors in the first Gulf War.
Saudi Arabia's policy of neutrality has been successful
enough. Since the Turks departed its territories almost
a century ago, Saudi Arabia has never been attacked or
occupied by a foreign power. All of Saudi Arabia's land
boundaries pass through mostly uninhabited desert regions
with mostly friendly countries. The other borders are its two
coastlines. With the exception of the oil rich border with
Kuwait— the Saudis' natural allies, the kingdom's boundary
areas have little commercial value. Supported by the US, and
with nearby nations once again at peace, the country remains
in a sound strategic position against outside invasion.
SUNNIS AND SHI'ITES
Wealth in Saudi Arabia is not evenly spread across the
county. The Eastern Province, the location of the oil fields,
and the country's wealth generator, is noticeably poorer than
the central and western half of Saudi Arabia where most
wealth is spent.
The Eastern Province is Saudi Arabia's Northern Ireland,
a centre of dissent within the Kingdom, with a Shia
community of up to 1 5 per cent of the local population. Like
minority groups in many countries, the Saudi government
discriminates against its Shi'ite citizens both economically
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 39
and socially. Shi'ites cannot hold public positions. They
cannot participate in the judiciary. They cannot join the
army. They cannot join the public service. Saudi Shi'ites
may feel a stronger affinity with the majority Shi'ite
populations in Bahrain and Iran than they do with the power
group in Riyadh.
Over 25,000 Saudis, mostly from the Eastern Province, have
travelled overseas to fight for various Muslim causes, amongst
them Bosnia, Chechnya, Palestine and Afghanistan. Upon
returning home, these warriors were treated not as heroes, but
as troublemakers. Many of them were arrested as dissidents
and detained in jail for long periods. In recent times numbers
of volunteers to such foreign causes has greatly declined.
Prisoners of Conscience
Political and religious differences of opinion have long been the basis
of detention within Saudi jails. Detention without charge or trial for
long periods is commonplace as are floggings and other torture. In
recent times, Amnesty International reports that the worldwide "war
on terror" following the 9/11 raid has been the pretext for recent
rounds of arrests.
■ Dr Shaim al-Hamazani, Jamal al-Qosseibi, Hamad al-Salihi and
'Abdullah al-Magidi were tried in September, having reportedly
been detained without charge or access to lawyers at al-Ha'ir
prison for almost two years.
■ Dr Matrouk al-Falih and Muhammad Sa'eed Tayyeb, who were
arrested in 2004 for calling for reform. Muhammad Sa'eed Tayyeb
was reportedly required to sign a statement at the time of his
release that he would not again call for political reform.
■ Sa'ad Bin Sa'id Bin Zu'air was also detained without charge or trial
from June to August, during which he was held incommunicado in
'Ulaisha prison, Riyadh, after he was interviewed on the satellite
TV station, Al-Jazeera.
— Amnesty International Annual Report, 2007
SAUDI ARABIA AND ISRAEL
Arabs and Jews can trace their antecedents to Semites
who lived on the Arabian Peninsula at about the time that
civilisation was first emerging in the region. The eternal
struggle for supremacy in the Middle East is between
distant members of the same family. Arabs regard the
40 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Jewish race as their delinquent brothers. The Jews regard
the Arabs likewise.
Jews and Arabs coexisted in the Middle East for centuries
after the two races assumed their separate identities. Judaism
remained a strong force on the Arabian Peninsula until the
rise of Islam, but the advent of Muhammad was a watershed
event in Jewish/Arab relations. When Muhammad was first
establishing Islam as a state religion, those who refused to
convert from Judaism were either executed or banished from
Mecca. Much of the present-day enmity between the Jews
and the Arabs stems from that time.
The Palestinian dispute is central to dissent in the Middle
East. On their maps of the world, Saudi Arabia does not
recognise Israel at all. The land mass to the west of Jordan
and to the east of Egypt is designated 'Palestine'. A particular
problem from the Saudi point of view in the Palestine question
was the backing of Israel by the United States — the trading
and military partner the kingdom does not wish to offend.
King Faisal supplied 20,000 troops to Jordan during the
1 967 Six-Day War and was devastated when Israel triumphed.
According to some accounts, after that King Faisal never
smiled again for the rest of his life.
During the 1973 Yom Kippur
The Palestinian War, the kingdom sent troops
Problem and weapons to aid the Arab
Saudi authorSulaymanal-Hattlan states. In both the 1967 and
analysed the Palestinian situation „„„ „ ,. , . , .
from a Saudi perspective in 1973 wars . Saudl Arabla bnefl y
an interview on the Australian cut off, then reinstated, oil
TV programme Foreign sup p lies to the West. (Saudi
Correspondent, aired on 5 March rr
2003. The title of the programme Arabia also briefly cut off oil
was 'Saudi Arabia: Inside the supplies to Britain and France for
Closed Kingdom'. Al-Hattlan . , , . . . _^
commented 'The more the supporting Israel against Egypt
Palestinians are oppressed during the Suez Canal crisis
and the more the Americans f 1 956 )
support Israel, the more popular
Osama bin Laden and his like For a11 that ' Saudl Arabian
become. I think the core issue is support for the Palestinian
Palestine. The trend of fanaticism cause has been ambiva i ent . The
or extremism cannot stop at any
pointuntilwereallylookseriously Saudis, who don't particularly
at the Palestinian issue.' mind seeing other Arab nations
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 41
disunited, have provided support to extreme groups like
Hamas and Islamic Jihad as well as the Palestinian Liberation
Organisation (PLO). During the first Gulf War, in response
to the Palestinian support for Iraq, the Saudis expelled
Palestinians guest workers and cut off financial aid to various
Palestinian organisations, including the PLO.
OIL AND THE ECONOMY
Commercial oil production in Saudi Arabia commenced
in 1938 at modest flows, and continued at about 300,000
barrels per day through World War II. After the war, serious
oil revenues started to flow into the Royal treasury and
additional oil wells on the eastern seaboard were drilled. In
1 948, a pipeline — the TransArabian Pipeline, more commonly
called the Tapline— was built to carry oil from the Arabian
Gulf oilfields to the Mediterranean port of Sidon, in Lebanon.
The Tapline passed through four politically volatile countries:
Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The project was a
technical success, but the Tapline crossed some of the most
politically sensitive country in the world. In particular, the
Golan Heights in Syria, became a regular battlefield between
the Israelis and the Syrians. Over its working life, the Tapline
was often out of action and sometimes sabotaged. In any
case, after the development of supertankers, its use became
The Qatif oil producing plant in Damman which lies north-east of Riyadh.
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 43
uneconomic. In the 1990s, after a tiff with Jordan, Saudi
Arabia shut down the Tapline for good. These days, oil is
shipped by tankers from the Gulf to its various destinations
around the world.
Though the Saudi oilfields were originally developed by
foreign oil companies, over the years Saudi Arabia bought back
the rights to its own oil. In 1 950, Saudi Arabia negotiated a 50-
50 profit-sharing arrangement with the US oil companies in the
Aramco consortium. In 1 974, the Saudis increased their share
of Aramco and in 1 980, assumed full control of the company.
During the 1950s, oil was sold to a free market that
established its own prices according to the laws of supply and
demand. Saudi Arabian oil— abundant, near the surface, and
close to the coast for loading into oil tankers— was cheaper to
extract and ship to world markets than oil from most oilfields.
Extraction costs of Saudi oil, according to one estimate, were
US$ 0.25 per barrel.
Since oil was sold to the free market, regulating the oil
price directly was impossible. Oil was cheap. The way to
control the oil price, the Saudis realised, was to control
production. Since about a dozen countries in the world were
major oil exporters, production controls could work if a
significant number of these exporters operated a cartel.
In September 1960, at a conference in Baghdad, Saudi
Arabia, Venezuela, Iraq, Iran and Kuwait founded the
Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
where all member nations would agree on production targets
for the various producing countries and thereby maintain
oil prices. Despite occasional internal political tensions,
OPEC has held together to the present day.
In 1973, using the latest iteration of the Arab-Israeli war
as a pretext, OPEC shut down production, pushing up the
price of oil by 400 per cent overnight, precipitating what in
economic circles became known as the 'first oil shock'. Over
the ensuing years, when production resumed, billions of
dollars from oil revenues flowed into the treasury.
OPEC operations weren't always successful. In the 1 980s
and 1990s when members of OPEC exceeded their own
production quotas, the oil price dropped from a high of
44 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
US$ 40 per barrel to a low point of around US$ 5. A further
burden on the treasury was a US$ 51 billion debt to the
US for the costs of protecting the country in the first Gulf
War from a rumoured invasion by Iraq. Added to this was
US$ 30 billion that the Saudis incurred bankrolling the military
efforts of Saddam Hussein in its fight a few years earlier with
Iran. The cost of maintaining the Royal Family — estimated by
some at US$ 10 billion per year— was also burdensome.
Saudi Arabia does have resources other than oil. Its
minerals include small amounts of gold, silver, iron copper,
zinc, manganese, tungsten, lead, sulphur, phosphate,
soapstone and feldspar. Saudi Arabia also has a small
agricultural sector. The country's traditional crop is dates, of
which Saudi Arabia is one of the world's largest producers.
Elsewhere in the country, about two million tonnes of wheat
was produced under irrigation by desalinated water and at
a cost that is likely to be a great deal higher than global free
market prices. The country even exported some wheat to
other countries. This policy has recently been reviewed. Saudi
Arabia is currently phasing out growing of wheat, instead
securing its further food supplies by purchasing farms in
wheat-growing countries.
For all its aridity, according to census information, Saudi
Arabia sustains a population of 7.4 million sheep, 4.2 million
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 45
goats, half a million camels and a quarter of a million cattle.
The south-west of the country, where the annual rainfall is
around 400 mm (1 6 inches), is the main source of agricultural
products. Coffee, fruit, vegetables and cereal crops are grown in
these highland regions. But the aggregate economic results from
these activities is modest. Oil, subject to its erratic highs and lows
in price, is the main game and has been for many years.
Even as recently as 2002, the economy was sagging
under the influence of low oil prices and accumulated debt.
Economic salvation came courtesy of the oil price rise that
started in 2003.
In 2005, in response to pressures from the US
administration, Saudis from the government and Aramco
announced plans to ramp up Saudi oil production from ten
million barrels per day to 1 5 million phased over a number
of years. This level of production hasn't happened, and
according to most geologists is probably unrealistic. As things
turned out, the 50 per cent production wasn't necessary — at
least in the short term. The oil price peaked in July 2008 at
around US$ 147, then went into a long decline. In February
2009, with the price of oil at around US$ 35, Saudi Arabia, in
its role as leader of OPEC, was endeavouring to convince its
OPEC partners that salvation for the oil price lay in production
cuts rather than production increases.
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PRESENT DAY
Warlords have traditionally ruled Arab societies. The
20th century has brought little change to this practice. Of
the modern day Arab nations, only Egypt is a democracy,
and even Egyptian democratic claims are compromised by
low election turnouts and allegations of unfair elections. A
mixture of emirs, kings, dictators, presidents, sheiks and
mullahs — none of them elected— rule most of the nations
in the region.
Saudi Arabia remains an old-style kingdom still held together
by a 250-year-old alliance between the Al Saud family and the
reactionary Wahhabi scholars. The King is prime minister and
appoints his own ministers, mostly senior members of his own
family. Key government offices are all held by family members.
46 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Most of the cabinet are princes, brothers, half-brothers, sons
and nephews from the House of Saud.
Ibn Saud's 30-year campaign to unite the country started
a one-man population explosion. Two or three generations
since Ibn Saud arrived on the scene, an extraordinary number
of people can claim the royal bloodline. Two generations on,
grandsons of Ibn Saud number around 1,400. Estimates of
the size of the present-day Royal Family range from 5,000
to 25,000 depending on who's being counted. Of this
impressive tally, one hundred or so are senior princes, a
few thousand are second-ranking emirs and sheiks and the
balance, lesser lights.
The institution of the monarchy, with its centralised power
and long periods of reign, has stamped the kingdom with the
personality of the current monarch. Under Saudi protocol,
succession of the monarchy flows to the 'oldest and most
upright' of princes. As a result, successive kings of Saudi
Arabia have been increasingly old men. When he ascended
the throne in 2005, King Adullah was 81 years old. Next in
line is Crown Prince Sultan who claimed to have been born
in 1928, though some authorities think he has exaggerated
his youthfulness, and could be older. (No accurate records
Land and History of Saudi Arabia 47
were kept in the 1920 and 1930s when Sultan was born.)
After Prince Sultan, the line of succession will depend on
which of Ibn Saud's sons are still alive upon Abdullah's
death. However, one of Abdullah's more radical changes to
the political order has been the proposal that the monarchy
will by-pass the remainder of Ibn Saud's surviving sons — now
all octogenarians— in favour of his grandsons— described by
The Economist as "callow striplings" in their sixties.
Princes who married 50 to 100 wives in a lifetime are not
uncommon in the House of Saud. Of all the kings who have
so far sat on the Saudi throne, only King Faisal had fewer
than ten wives. The sheer size of the Royal Family has been
both a strength— in the extent of its integration into the
wider community — and a weakness as princes compete with
each other for positions of power. Given its massive size, the
Royal Family has closed ranks pretty well to hold out against
such quaint Western notions as democracy and the right to
vote. One of the family's techniques of reducing the power
of their own dissidents has been to get rid of them. In the
70 years so far that the monarchy has stayed intact, it has
publicly executed three of its own and privately disposed of
a number of others.
The Wahhabi religious order also has a strong role in
government. Although Saudi princes select the King, their
choice must be approved by the Ulema, which also acts as
an advisor to the government on a wide range of issues.
A Saudi answer to those who criticise the kingdom as
undemocratic is to cite the complaints handling authority,
the Majlis Al Shura, or Shura Council, appointed by the king
in 1992. The Majlis, a committee of 150 delegates with no
law-making power, serves as a forum to discuss the issues
of the day. To underscore the alliance between the political
and religious wings in the country, all appointments to the
Majlis are ratified by the Ulema.
In theory, all Saudi citizens can take their grievance to
the Majlis, and meet face-to-face with the king or other
members of the Royal Family. In practice, the Majlis system
is impractical in a nation with one king and over 20 million
citizens. Even though the king typically passes over matters
48 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
to be settled to aides, in the time available, only a fraction of
the issues that constituents wish to present are heard.
One of the agenda items of the Majlis committee, but yet to
be implemented, is the establishment in Saudi Arabia of a bill
of rights. Saudi Arabia remains a country where full and frank
discussions with the authorities are not encouraged. The
Board of Grievances (Diwan al-Mazalim) established under
the Chief Judge, has the judicial power to investigate and
resolve complaints between the people and the government.
Though represented as a public forum, it is widely believed
that complainants assume a certain level of risk of being
punished as dissidents.
There are 13 administrative centres in the kingdom
each with a governor appointed by the King. All provincial
governors so far appointed have been princes from the
Royal Family. In addition, large cities appoint their own
municipal governments. Local affairs in smaller settlements
are governed by a council of elders.
The year 2005 saw a cautious experiment with democracy
in Saudi Arabia. In Riyadh, representatives for half the seats
on the town council were elected to office, with the other half
appointed by the Royal Family. Despite recent enthusiasm
in the West for introducing democracy into the Middle
East, attitudes to democracy in Saudi Arabia are similar
elsewhere in the Arab world. Only men were entitled to
vote in the Riyadh council elections. Voter enthusiasm was
muted. Only 30 per cent of the eligible voters bothered to
register. Only about 150,000 votes were cast out of an
eligible enrolment of over a million. On the other hand,
the 700 candidates competing for seven council seats in
Riyadh joined in the spirit of the occasion and campaigned
vigorously. Campaign techniques ranged from traditional-
style hospitality dispensed from Bedouin tents to websites
and campaign promises transmitted as text messages to
cellphones. While Saudi Arabia hasn't pretended yet to be a
democracy, it has at least placed a tentative foot on the ladder
of democratic rule. Whether this timid tilt at democracy
will satisfy the sometimes disgruntled ideologically driven
sections of the population remains to be seen.
WHO RR€
THG SAUDIS?
'I do not feel obliged to believe that the same
God who has endowed us with sense, reason,
and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.'
—Galileo Galilei
50 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
FROM BEDOUINISM TO OPULENCE
Seventy years ago, one might have imagined Saudi Arabia
as a country of impoverished Bedouins enduring a life
of extraordinary hardship in one of the most forbidding
countries in the world. In a few short years after that, oil
revenues created the more prevalent public image of the
Saudi as a playboy jet-setting around the gambling joints
of Europe, then returning home to his austere land to relax
in his air-conditioned palace. Both stereotypes still exist.
Small numbers of incredibly rich Saudis still travel the world
spending money like water. Half a million or so Bedouins
still roam the deserts. But between these two stereotypes
lie the bulk of the people, the middle class, most of whom
live urbanised lives.
THE POPULATION EXPLOSION
Saudi Arabia is widely regarded as a wealthy country. This
is a misconception based on the well-publicised antics of
the very rich. In fact, before the oil price spiked in 2003 — in
terms of GDP per capita— Saudi Arabia was well on its way to
becoming a poor country. According to World Bank statistics,
in the year 2001 , Saudi Arabia lay in 62nd place in a list of
wealthiest countries of the world, between Slovakia and the
Seychelles. Through the 1980s and 1990s, the country had
been caught in a debt trap, with export receipts falling and
population rising. Since then, things have improved as rising
oil prices eased the country's financial problems.
Who are the Saudis? 51
Saudi Arabia's population tripled between 1980 to 2004.
Its rate of population increase of about 2 per cent per year
is high by world standards. In terms of long term sustainable
carrying capacity, Saudi Arabia is greatly overpopulated.
Saudi society's attitudes to family planning flow
from cultural factors, not the least of which the cleric's
interpretation of the Qur'an. Like Christianity, Islamic
teachings on family planning— go forth and multiply!—
were developed to suit the times. In the 7th century,
large families were needed to replace people claimed by
high infant mortality and to provide a steady supply of
soldiers to be killed in battle. Over the years, the need for
people diminished but the dogma stayed the same; hence
the present population problem. The average size of the
Saudi family, according to 2001
. . „ , . .. , . , It is worth noting that birth control
statistics, was 6.4 children with |n neighbouring | ran> a , so as an
half the population under the Islamiccountrywhichalsobases
age of 1 5. Millions of young its le 9 al s y stem on tne Qur ' an '
has got its net birth rate down
Saudis will enter the job market t0 a | most zera , n | ran> famNy
in the next decade, to face planning advice, condoms, pills
„„„ „f t u„ ™„^„„„ „ »„. >„ and sterilisation are supplied
one or the modern country s * * D
J on request by the state. By
most insidious problems— contrast birth control is illegal in
unemployment of Saudi youth. Saudi Arabia.
52 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
FAMILY VALUES
The family is the most important social group in Saudi
Arabia. Saudi families are large with the oldest male
being considered the head. Families tend to be more self-
contained than Western families and more intergenerational.
Three or four generations may live under one roof. The
elderly are looked after by the younger generations and
afforded respect. Saudi children tend to be indulged with
not too much discipline within the home. Foreign labour is
cheap in Saudi Arabia. Not very wealthy families may have
an Indonesian or a Filipina housemaid. In richer families,
children may have their own allocated servants.
From a Saudi point of view, the ideal home is a self-
contained villa away from the peering eyes of neighbours.
Saudi houses are typically surrounded by high walls. Within
the walled area, houses of extended families may be
connected to each other in what resembles a walled estate.
Not only do the walls keep out sandstorms prevalent in
most areas of the country, in a figurative sense at least, they
also protect the family inside from contact with the outside
world. As a result, family members have closer relations
with each other and probably less with outsiders than in
other cultures. Family members get intimately involved in
each other's affairs. Children are encouraged to stay in the
home, and may well not leave it when they reach adulthood.
Intergenerational Saudi families have a plentiful supply of
babysitters, and generally a lesser need for them since so
much social activity is conducted within the family and
within the home.
Social rules between males and females are immensely
complicated in Saudi Arabia by restrictions and rules
flowing from religious beliefs.
Chatting Over Coffee
In a National Geographic article,
'Women in Arabia', Marrianne
Alireza noted: 'For city women
like us the only activity besides
living communally within the
extended family was leaving our
quarters to visit other women in
their quarters.'
Social life, in particular for
women, revolves around the
extended family and close
friends. Saudi women spend a
lot of their waking hours inside
the home chatting with other
women in what in the West
Who are the Saudis? 53
might be termed 'coffee groups'. Some Saudi men even
go so far as to lock their womenfolk inside the house from
dawn to dusk
A male visiting a Saudi household is unlikely to meet
a female resident of the house. Dining arrangements are
similarly complicated. Women and girls eat separately
from boys and men. One of the authors once received a
lunch invitation to a Bedouin encampment — along with
20 or so other Westerners, both male and female.
Arriving at the camp, men and women were separated and
directed into different areas of a large tent that had been
partitioned across its centre. Men dined on one side of the
partition and women on the other.
A whole roasted sheep was the main item on the menu.
The sheep was brought into the male dining area on an
enormous plate and surrounded by rice. The plate was
borne by the small boys of the tribe and placed on the floor
of the tent. Squatting on rugs around the roasted sheep, the
male diners used their hands to tear off whatever meat they
wanted to eat. When the men had their fill, the boys returned
54 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
and carried the plate to the women in the compartment next
door. After the women had cleaned up the left-overs, the dogs
were given the remains. The order of feeding reflected the
pecking order of the tribe — men, women and dogs.
Saudi Children
In a land where religious instruction is the core curriculum,
the grip of Islam on the young mind is every bit as strong as
its hold on the older generation. With a heavy emphasis on
religion in their education, Saudi youths generally respect
their elders, undertake their religious duties, maintain
strong family ties and do not openly engage in premarital
sex. By the standards of the
West, the majority of Saudi
youth is unrebellious. Children
tend to find their amusements
inside the home rather than
'hanging out'. Though one
place teenage Saudi boys like
to gather with their friends
is at the arcades in shopping
malls, where behaviour codes
are fairly relaxed.
On the other hand, religious
fervour can inspire young
Saudis to commit desperate
acts. Dozens of disaffected
Saudi youths have sacrificed
themselves for causes that seem incomprehensible to most
Westerners. Fifteen out of the nineteen 9-11 highjackers
were young Saudis. According to The Economist, 'Hundreds
of young Saudis are thought to have joined the jihadists
in Iraq.'
NAMES AND LABELS
Though Saudis have a strong sense of family, they may not
have a family name. In naming their children, Saudis string
together a long series of first names, using the word bin to
mean 'son of (or bint meaning 'daughter of), followed by
Not Very
Rebellious Youth
When the Saudi Arabian soccer
team won the GCC cup in
January 2002, young Saudi men
drove up and down Olaya Street
in Riyadh with music blaring
from their car stereos until the
police appeared on the scene
whereupon the youngsters sped
off. This display of exuberant
youth, that would have passed
unnoticed in the West, was
considered noteworthy enough
in Saudi Arabia to have been
reported as an important story
in next day's newspapers.
Who are the Saudis? 55
their father's name. Depending on how many generations
they care to go back in the family history, this can lead to
some exceedingly long names. For example, one of the
powerful princes in the Saudi dynasty is Faysal bin Turki bin
Abdallah bin Mohhamad bin Saud— a name that extends as
far back as the great-great-grandfather. Including the Saud
name even as far back as five generations means the holder
can claim to be Royalty and thereby enjoy some privileges.
Given the reference to Royalty in the fifth link of the chain, the
name is unlikely to be shortened by future generations.
An alternative to a naming convention that flows
backwards in time is one that flows forwards. Saudis might
like to be referred to as the father of their son's name. A Saudi
man using this style of naming might be known as Abu Dhabi
meaning the 'father of Dhabi'. For mothers, the equivalent
nomenclature is Umm Said meaning 'mother of Said'.
INTERACTION BETWEEN THE SEXES
While the law allows a man to have up to four wives, the
Qur'an states that rights to this privilege come with a
condition that the man must look after his family members
both properly and equally. In the modern world, this is a
considerable restraint. As in the West, the average Saudi
faces the same daily economic struggle that grinds down the
rest of the world. Like kids from other cultures, the younger
generation of Saudis demand their parents' full participation
in the consumer economy. They need education, the latest
in computers, music and whatever else is 'in'. In a country
where women cannot work, most families have a single
breadwinner. The customary complaint from polygamous
husbands is the cost and time of attending to the needs of
their multiple families. Four families expand the financial
burden on the breadwinner by a factor of four.
Other than for the wealthy, multiple families are no
longer commonplace. The major exception is the Royal
Family which practices polygamy to excess. While the
Saudi laws on marriage and divorce stipulates a man can
have only four wives, there is a loophole. The law stipulates
a man is restricted to four families at any one time. Over
56 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
a lifetime, there is no limit to the number of wives a
man may have. Taking advantage of this oversight by the
Prophet, over the course of their lives, Saudi princes have
taken an extraordinary number of wives. Following the
example of their father, Ibn Saud, princes and kings of
Saudi Arabia have spent much of their spare time marrying
and divorcing women at will, and producing an immense
number of royal children in the process. Marriage on
this scale is expensive, but since the Royal Family is
in personal charge of the country's treasury, money
had proved no object in this pursuit of regal fecundity.
The Royals can afford as many children as they like
from as many wives they feel like taking. An extended
Saudi Royal Family numbering thousands has been
the consequence.
Although individuals are theoretically entitled to select
their own marriage partners, most marriages are arranged
between the respective families. Saudis don't marry their
siblings, but marriage to a first cousin is considered desirable.
Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia in the medical profession
have reported frequent cases where intermarrying within
extended families has compromised health of progeny
through inbreeding.
Low Divorce Rates
The ease with which Arab men can divorce their wives has received
wide publicity in the West. Much quoted are the divorce laws where all
a man has to do is tell his wife 'I divorce you' three times and it's all
over. This is not quite the way things are meant to work out in theory.
The Qur'an allows divorce, but decrees that partners to a marriage
are not divorced for frivolous reasons. Also, in theory at least, under
Shariah Law, women can themselves initiate divorce proceedings.
But in the real world, instances of women divorcing their husbands
are rare. Despite the liberal divorce laws, outside the Royal Family
where it is endemic, divorce isn't commonplace in Saudi Arabia. In
fact, statistics show that divorce is less common in Saudi Arabia than
in most Western countries.
As in many societies, attitudes to virtue are quite different
for men and women. Saudis put a monetary value on the
Who are the Saudis? 57
intact bridal state. Virginity amongst unmarried women is
highly prized, some would say essential. Top bride prices
are paid for virgins. Divorcees and widows attract smaller
amounts. Unmarried non-virginity is in limited demand and
can sometimes be life-threatening. By contrast, virginity
amongst unmarried men isn't a consideration.
Attitudes of men to women are closely related to questions
of honour and shame. To the great disadvantage of Saudi
women, Saudi men see themselves as the fearless upholders
of the female virtue. At issue here is the Arab question of
honour, and its opposite number— shame. The concept of
shame in Saudi Arabia differs from the equivalent idea in
the West. In Saudi Arabia, shame describes the state of mind
in a man whose 'honour' is besmirched not by his own
behaviour but by the indiscretion (alleged or otherwise) of
a close relative. A typical 'crime' committed by a woman
bringing shame on the menfolk of her family is consorting
with a man outside the family group.
Men who think nothing of taking concubines and wives
a third of their age impose extraordinary punishment on
women whose 'honour' has been 'besmirched' by men just
like themselves. Women can have 'justice' exacted by male
family members with little interference from the justice
system. Killings of alleged female adulterers are rarely
reported. Particularly in rural areas beyond the reach of
the authorities, punishment for adultery becomes a private
matter of family honour. The counterpart male adulterer is
much more likely to get off than the female.
Associated with adultery is the thorny issue of rape. Rape
victims are similarly shunned for the 'dishonour' that their
unwilling participation in a crime brings to their families
through their diminished status and compromised marital
prospects. Though the kingdom provides the death penalty
for rapists, to make her case, a raped woman has to present
in court four upright Muslim men as witnesses to the crime. If
she is unable to produce four honest voyeurs who happened
to be in attendance when the crime was committed, she
may be charged with slander and receive punishment
additional to that which has already been received at the
58 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
hands of the rapist. Since the level of proof is so onerous,
rape cases brought by plaintiffs are exceedingly rare in
Saudi Arabia.
Rape Victim Punished
A 23-year-old unmarried woman unwisely accepted an offer of a
ride from a male car driver. The man took her to a rest house east
of Jeddah where he and his four friends assaulted her all night long.
Afterward, when she fell pregnant she tried to abort the foetus. When
that failed she requested an abortion at King Fahd Hospital. By that
time she was eight weeks pregnant. Report to the authorities, was
then charged with adultery and attempting to procure an abortion.
The District Court in Jeddah found her guilty and sentenced her to one
year's prison and 100 lashes. According to the ruling, the woman will
be sent to a jail outside Jeddah to spend her time and will be lashed
after delivery of her baby who will take the mother's last name.
— From Saudi Gazette, February 2009
The status of women in Saudi society has earned
widespread condemnation elsewhere in the world. The
double standard so objectionable to women liberationists
world-wide is alive and well in Saudi Arabia. Under strict
interpretation of Shariah Law, a woman is meant to have
the same legal rights as men. But in reality, women have
difficulty obtaining their rights under a legal system run
entirely by male clerics.
As the world moves into the 21st century, are there any
signs of change of these 7th century attitudes? Possibly some.
In recent times, young men and women have used modern
technology in ingenious ways to circumvent Saudi Arabia's
restriction on sexes. Pickup trucks of teenage boys and young
men cruise the streets, pulling up beside chauffeur-driven
cars full of girls covered from head to toe in abayas, their
faces obscured by veils. Windows are wound down. Scraps of
papers with cellphone numbers of the hopeful romantics are
interchanged through the open windows. The cars drive off.
The phones get busy. Text messages are sent and received.
Contact has been made. The two parties speak to each other
on their phones. But the next step, an actual meeting, is
more hazardous.
Who are the Saudis? 59
As a footnote on this subject, we have noted that an
Internet dating service (allegedly) exists for Saudi Arabia
(www.saudiabsingle.com). The authors can't claim any
personal experience with the success or otherwise of this
system, but it does seem remarkable, given the prevailing
cultural mores on female virtue, that such a service could
exist in Saudi Arabia, let alone prosper
SAUDI WOMEN
The activities of Saudi Arabia's women are highly restricted,
particularly outside the home. The street is the domain of
men. To travel beyond their doorstep in saudi Arabia, a
woman needs the permission of a male guardian— called
a mahram— and generally the father or husband. Women
in the street are usually on a mission, usually a shopping
expedition. Otherwise, they are encouraged to stay indoors
and avoid casual contact with strangers. Operating in pairs
and threesomes and covered in abayas, women tread lightly
through the outside world, flitting like wraiths amongst the
shadows of the background.
Within the home, people familiar with the workings of Saudi
families may claim that women may wield more influence
than appears apparent from a Westerner's viewpoint. Strong-
minded women may, for example, influence the behaviour
Saudi women in black abayas out on the street.
60 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
of their menfolk by determining the careers of their sons.
But mostly, the role of women is subsidiary.
The popular Western view that Muslim women hold
diminished rights is quite at odds with official Muslim PR on
this subject. The Muslim website, thetruereligion.org (http://
thetruereligion.org), carries an article entitled 'Women's
Liberation Through Islam' in which is described the Muslim
take on gender equality in Saudi Arabia. According to this
account, women are meant to enjoy equal status with men,
the right to choose their own religion, the right to choose
their own husband, and the right to vote. In the real world of
Saudi Arabian street-life, these claims ring hollow. According
to most other accounts, the reality for Saudi women is far
more restricted. Most women marry partners selected by
their families. The Muslim religion is compulsory. Women
have no say in the affairs of state. In Saudi Arabia, few rights
to vote exist for men, and none at all for women.
The stultifying boredom of women's earthly role in Saudi
society was described in the biography Princess by Jean P
Sassoon, a book claiming to describe the true-life story of a
member of the House of Saud who told her tale under the
pseudonym 'Princess Sultana'. The book describes how
royal women lived in a closed society where they had
absolutely nothing to do from one day to the next. A retinue
of domestic help looked after the chores and the high-born
women were not permitted to engage in any form of outside
work, even voluntary work.
Princess Sultana and her female companions were
encouraged to remain in their palaces. Princess Sultana and
her contemporaries felt like captives inside their opulent
palaces— golden birds in gilded cages— from which they were
rarely released by husbands they hardly knew. Husbands, by
contrast, were out and about, doing business with each other
and casually marrying and divorcing other women whose
existence the principal wife might only suspect.
According to Sassoon 's account, some cast-off wives turned
to tranquillizers and drugs to alleviate their boredom. Others
got into more serious trouble. Princess Sultana recounts how
a group of such women arranged trysts with foreign men in
Who are the Saudis? 61
one of the many houses owned by their husbands. They were
caught. Charged with besmirching the honour of the family,
one of the unfaithful wives was weighed down with chains
and drowned in the family swimming pool after a 'trial'
conducted by the male members of her family. Another was
put into lifetime solitary confinement in a darkened room
within a family house where, in short time, she went crazy
and committed suicide.
Some Saudis have disputed the account of Princess
Sultana. Defenders of the Saudi Arabian way of life, claim
that 'Princess' is sensationalism, written by a woman's rights
author for Western consumption with the express purpose of
making money. There is no question that the book has made
money. In fact, a sequel made even more money; then, for
good measure, a third book was published.
As usual in this enigmatic country, the truth is hard to
determine and the right balance is hard to strike. For those
who want to hear the opposite viewpoint— that all is, in fact,
well between womanhood and Saudi culture — an alternative
is the book At the Drop of a Veil by Marianne Alireza. The book
is a personalised description of an American women living in
Saudi Arabia and married to a Saudi man— an arrangement
that, according to the author, was highly satisfactory.
The most widely reported execution of a high ranking
female for a sexual transgression was in 1 978 when Princess
Mishaal, grand niece of the then reigning monarch King
Khaled, was put to death. Princess Mishaal, who had by the
age of 1 7 already undergone an arranged marriage and had
then been casually divorced, had fallen in love with a young
man who requested her hand in marriage. But the House of
Saud withheld its permission for this union. Princess Mishaal
defied her family. She met her suitor, Khalid Mullalal in a
Jeddah Hotel; but she was recognised and caught. Both were
tried and privately executed in a car park in Jeddah. She was
shot and he was beheaded. This was an 'honour killing' to
avenge a perceived slight that had been perpetrated on the
Royal Family. There was no trial, but there did happen to be
a TV camera on location. The story made news in the BBC
documentary Death of a Princess that the House of Saud
62 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
subsequently spent about US$ 500 million unsuccessfully
trying to suppress.
WOMEN AND RELIGION
The Muslim religion has had a tough time defining the precise
status of women either on earth or in heaven. Women are
expected to embrace the Muslim faith, but the Saudi clergy
has not quite decided whether or not women should be
admitted to mosques, or whether they should be restricted
to pray at home. After 1 ,400 years of debate, this issue
seems to be decided on an ad hoc basis. In some mosques,
women are allowed to pray with men in a common area in
which the two sexes are obliged to make minimum contact.
In other mosques, women are allocated to a secondary area.
For some other mosques, female participation is excluded
completely. If they are allowed inside mosques at all, women
are cautioned that wearing perfume is prohibited for fear that
an alluring scent might distract men from their devotions.
Women and the Afterlife
Like Christianity, the reward in Islam for leading a good life on Earth
is a place in heaven. Like Christianity, Islam believes heaven is its
exclusive province. The details provided by the official Muslim website
are sketchy on the question of what goes on in the Muslim afterlife,
but a commonly quoted take on the Islam version of paradise for a
man is a place of cool breezes, running water, and the companionship
of a plentiful supply of beautiful females (72 virgins per man being
a popular estimate for this service); in short, most of the things that
are missing from life on earth for the average male in the deserts
of Saudi Arabia. Over the ages, this vista of indolence and pleasure
has been enough to tempt battalions of desert fighters to sacrifice
themselves for some earthly cause in order to gain the keys to such
a paradise while they are still young enough to enjoy it. Of course
what attractions paradise might offer the female of the species— an
eternity to service the bodily needs of designated men— is not really
covered in this picture of the future.
ACQUIRING AN IDENTITY
The article 'Women's Liberation Through Islam' also claims
that the Qur'an affords the right of women to conduct
Who are the Saudis? 63
business and own property. Maybe so. The idea has tradition.
The Prophet's first wife was a wealthy woman who ran a
prosperous trading company. But this right has also not
been well recognised by the Wahhabi version of Islam. Saudi
women have had a tough time obtaining their rights in a legal
system that imposes additional burdens on the fairer sex.
For most of its history, despite what the Qur'an has to
say on the subject, Saudi Arabia regarded a woman merely
as an appendage of her family. In the physical world, Saudi
women moved through their community as anonymous
black-clad objects indistinguishable one from another. The
Saudi legal system treated women the same way. Women
who raised legal issues in Saudi courts of law were such low
profile creatures that their identity as unique individuals was
typically at issue. In Saudi Arabia, establishing the identity of
female claimants is an important part of the judicial process.
Normal aids to establish identity, like passports, driver's
licences and ID cards were unavailable to Saudi women.
Since the abaya is such a ubiquitous coverall, photographs
of Saudi women are rarely taken. Proving they were actually
the people they claimed to be proved a real burden to female
claimants trying to obtain their rights through the court
system. Was the person in the court the same person to
whom the contested rights should have flowed?
Lacking an easy proof of identity, a woman trying to obtain
legal rights, had to produce two male relations to confirm
who she is. Saudi women have had difficulty in Saudi courts
fighting false claims to their property and obtaining their
rights to inheritance. Imposters and false documentation have
been used to swindle women who have fallen out of favour
with their families. Should the man deny that the woman
in the court is his mother or his sister, the man's word will
normally be taken.
Signs have emerged that Saudi women, hitherto their
society's invisible people, are acquiring greater rights to
their own identities. The main advance is entitlement to
the identity card itself. Saudi men are issued identity cards
that are meant to be carried in public at all times. Hitherto,
women were named as dependants on their guardians'
64 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
identity cards, meaning that, strictly speaking, women are
not allowed in public without their guardian male on whose
card they are included.
In 2001 the law relaxed a little to allow the issue of cards
to a small number of selected women provided they had
permission of a mail guardian. In 2006 this rule was relaxed
some more to grant all women the right to their own ID cards
with or without the permission of a male in their family. This
is a major step forward for women's rights in the Kingdom.
Old Habits Die Hard
Commenting on the social advance of issuing ID cards to women on
a restricted basis, the Minister of the Interior Prince Nayef bin Abdul-
Aziz felt it necessary to state that the practice of recognising women
as human beings with their own separate identity was no relaxation
of Islamic rules but merely a pragmatic measure to fight fraud and
forgery. Said the Prince, "The issuing of identity cards to women was
dictated by the requirements of modern life."
Given this sentiment from on high, the intrinsic right of a woman
to her own identity was not really conceded by the ruling elite. In
granting this limited concession, old habits died hard. To make the
point that a woman's right to a separate identity had been recognised
with reluctance and only to convenience the commercial world,
women's identity cards were issued to their guardians instead of to
the card holders directly.
In other areas too, are women in Saudi Arabia gradually
being afforded concessions. A small advance in women's
rights in recent times has been the appointment of the first
woman to the inner circle of Saudi Government. In early
2009, in a major cabinet reshuffle, King Abdullah appointed
Nour Fayez as deputy minister for women's education.
Modern Saudi women with experience in the West
sometimes express their frustration at the niggling rules of the
male-dominated society. While in Saudi Arabia on business,
one of the authors was invited to a dinner party where he
met a single Saudi woman who had returned to Riyadh with
a masters degree in psychology from Stanford University.
During the meal, the conversation turned to the status of
women in contemporary Saudi Arabia. After spending five
years studying in the USA, how did an educated Saudi Arabian
Who are the Saudis? 65
woman resolve the dichotomy of the two opposing cultures?
In answer to the question of what restrictions really irked
her about her return to Saudi Arabia she said, "I don't really
mind having my husband chosen for me by my father. What
I really resent is not being able to drive a car."
Though the Qur'an claims that men and women are equal
in the eyes of God, there is some way to go in Saudi Arabia
before the claim can be made that men and women are equal
in the eyes of man.
WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE
Recent statistics confirm that prejudice against women is
still strong in Saudi Arabia, with less than 10 per cent of the
female population holding jobs— one of the lowest figures
for any country in the world. Twenty-six per cent of female
graduates remain unemployed and many others are forced
to take jobs in nearby Arab states.
A handful of women in the country now own their own
businesses — mostly dealing in specialist female products.
Like the issue of ID cards, some degree of male influence
over even that small incursion into male dominance has been
maintained. Although women are allowed to go into business
in a few restricted areas, the enabling legislation stipulates that
a man must look after most of the documentation.
Working Women and the Qur'an
The more general ruling by the clerics who write the law in Saudi
Arabia is based on an interpretation of the Qur'an that seems to
twist a man's obligation to look after his womenfolk into a restrictive
covenant on a woman's right to work. This ruling that women are
denied the right to work comes from the section of the Qur'an which
was written to define rights of women to rely on their menfolk for
support and sustenance. The clerics claim that the Qur'an states the
husband's duty is to maintain his womenfolk and the woman's duty
is to look after the house while the husband is away. The English
translation of the appropriate section of the Qur'an reads:
'Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has given
men more strength than women, and because men support women
from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly
obedient and guard in the husband's absence what Allah would
have them guard.'
— Qur'an, Surah 4:34
66 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Only in specialist, specifically female occupations where
contact with women is unavoidable, such as providing
doctoring and nursing services to women, does female
employment thrive.
King Abdullah, when he was crown prince, hinted that
restrictions on the employment of women might be relaxed.
In all likelihood, further occupations will be opened to the
participation of women in the future. Tentative steps have
already been taken in the civil service where separate
branches have been created that employ only women. This
measure ensures that segregation between the sexes is
maintained in the workplace — which can lead to interesting
working conditions. For example, the Chief of Econometrics
within the Ministry of Planning has a staff of 20 female
statisticians. Modern technology comes to the rescue to
preserve the rule that men and women cannot work in the
Hanadi Hindi is the first woman pilot in Saudi Arabia.
Who are the Saudis? 67
Veiled Saudi women working in a hospital in Riyadh.
same workspace. While the cleric's interpretation of the
Qur'an prohibits face-to-face communication between men
and women, nothing in the Qur'an bans video conferencing.
Statisticians of opposite genders working in the same office
talk to each other via closed circuit TV or through the intra-
office Internet.
Saudi Arabia's rules restricting the activities of women
contrast with most of its neighbouring Islamic Arab countries.
Bahrain, UAE and Jordan all provide their women equal
educational opportunities, and permit them to work and drive.
In neighbouring Bahrain, across the causeway that connects
the two countries, women even work as limousine drivers.
What a difference a border makes!
QUR'AN AND THE LAW
The judicial system in Saudi Arabia is Shariah Law which
combines the body of laws found in the Qur'an with
the Sunnah— the collection of practices of the Prophet
Muhammad — and the Hadith— the traditions and legends
surrounding the Prophet. Like the Christian states of centuries
past in Europe, religious beliefs and common law in Saudi
Arabia are inextricably mixed. Saudi Arabia has adopted
the Qur'an as its constitution. The Qur'an is not merely a
religious text, it is also a lawbook.
68 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Islam conducts far fewer debates than Christianity on how
the rules written in its Holy Book should be interpreted. The
Qur'an is far more straightforward and less ambiguous than
the Bible. It is also much shorter. The English translation of
the Qur'an runs to about 75,000 words— about the length
of this book.
Unlike the Bible — which was periodically transcribed,
written in three languages by many different authors in
many different time periods — the Qur'an was written at one
time, in one language recording the experiences of a single
individual. While the Bible has been retranslated frequently,
not one word of the Qur'an's 114 Chapters, known as Suras,
has been changed since they were first written.
According to its adherents, Shariah Law was intended to be
merciful. Compared to other systems of justice that prevailed
at the time the Holy Book was written, it probably was.
Elsewhere in the world in the 7th century ad, rough justice
was widespread. In the throes of the Dark Ages, Europe, for
example, was a lawless place. Such laws as existed were
administered erratically by medieval courts at the whim of
the Lord of the Manor.
The major problem with Shariah Law compared to the
world's more modern legal systems is that it contains no
provision for self-improvement. No doctrine of precedent
exists. No body of case law can accumulate to guide the
next judge who hears a similar case. Each judge who hears
a case decides the outcome based on his view of the Qur'an
and that alone.
The Judiciary is a kind of old boys club. Judges in the
administration of Shariah Law are heavily provincial. More
than three quarters of the 700-member Judiciary come from
a region in the centre of the kingdom known as the Qasim,
the home territory of Wahhabism. Nearly all the senior judges
are from the Qasim region. Judges rule the courts. No jury
system exists in Saudi Arabia, though the hierarchy of appeal
courts is similar to the West.
Decisions of the judges are known as fatwas. Their
principal objective is to preserve Islamic purity. Shariah
judges may issue/afwas on anyone, whether inside or outside
Who are the Saudis? 69
their jurisdiction, and whether brought to trial or not. The
most publicised/aftva of recent times has been that of author
Salman Rushdie— a sentence of death, so far not carried
out, which was imposed by the mullahs of Iran on Rushdie
for his book The Satanic Verses, which was seen to parody
Muslim beliefs.
The Qur'an is a key factor in a strange duality between
the country's administration and its religious orders. Religion
and civil administration overlap and merge imperceptibly.
Saudi clerics paid by the government perform a simultaneous
political and religious function. They are public servants,
answerable to the rules of public service as well as to the
Ulema. Clerics and government officials are mutually
answerable to each other, and this is a source of tension
for both parties. If clerics get out of step with the rulers,
they may find themselves out of a job. If administrators and
government officials stray too far from religious beliefs, they
may find they have a palace revolt on their hands.
Religion permeates all Saudi institutions. Saudi Arabia
not only has a civil police force, it has a parallel religious
police force— the Mutawa'een— a shadowy organisation in
charge of purifying thought and action in the community.
The Mutawa'een is God's police force. Its full name is the
'Committee for the Preservation of Virtue and for the
Prevention of Vice'. The Mutawa'een performs a similar role
in modern-day Saudi Arabia to the Inquisitors of Christianity's
most nefarious period. It seeks to impose its view of life on the
population. It ferrets out the morally and religiously suspect,
extracts confessions and brings the malefactors to court.
The civil and religious police forces answer to quite different
organisations. Though the Mutawa'een are meant to be
accompanied by the civil police when discharging its duties in
the community, often this does not happen. The Mutawa'een
can come and go as it pleases, entering private property
without search warrants and detaining whoever it thinks
fit. It patrols the streets, enters homes to ensure that people
dress modestly and that the laws of Islam are practised, and
checks that shops close their doors during prayer time. During
Ramadan, the Mutawa'een is particularly active, entering
70 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
businesses to ensure that employees are not eating, drinking
or smoking cigarettes during daylight hours.
An extraordinary and widely reported event in Mecca in
March 2002 illustrated the clergy's iron grip over common
sense and humanity. A fire had broken out at a girl's school.
Trying to escape the fire, the girls fled down a stairwell of
the burning building to find the ground floor exit of the fire
escape locked. Firemen managed to break down the door
in time to let the girls out, but at that stage the Mutawa'een
had arrived on the scene. The girls, the clerics determined,
were unveiled and not wearing headscarves. The Mutawa'een
cautioned firemen attending the scene that their morals
would be compromised if the improperly-clad girls were
released. Trapped in the stairwell of the burning building,
on the wrong side of a door that the Mutawa'een refused to
open, the doomed girls burned to death. Fifteen girls were
killed and 52 others injured. The Saudis tried to censor the
incident, but word leaked out to the wider world, alternatively
bemused and incensed by the depth of the cultural divide.
SWAPPING CULTURES
A common Western view of Saudi Arabia is of people who
are jealous of the West. According to this stereotype, Saudis
strive to be more like the West, and would like to escape
to the West and live a Western life. Many people who have
lived in Saudi Arabia have recounted the following story, or
one like it.
A Westerner is sitting in a plane, heading out of King Fahd
International Airport in Damman or one of the other Saudi
international airports. Next stop is London or perhaps New
York. Seated nearby is a Saudi woman dressed in an abaya.
She is encased from head to toe in a shimmering black
sheath. Not far into the journey, the lady gets up from her
seat, makes her way down the aisle and disappears into the
aircraft toilet— never to be seen again. A little while later, a
completely different individual emerges. She is elaborately
made up, wears a dress with a revealing neckline, short
skirt, nylon stockings and high heel shoes. She is clutching
a Louis Vuitton bag out of which pokes the merest hint of
Who are the Saudis? 71
black material. This stylish lady wiggles her way down the
aisle, slides into the seat that was previously occupied by the
Saudi Arabian woman. She shoves her bag under the seat
and orders a cocktail.
A version of the story also exists for males of the species,
who disappear into aircraft toilets dressed in traditional Arab
clothes and emerge clad in smart business suits.
There are various theories why these mysterious and
possibly mythical creatures are inclined to enter small
enclosed spaces to change into the outfits of alternate tribal
identities in the tradition of superwoman and superman.
One view, favoured by some in the West, is that Saudis are
uncomfortable with their own identity. Proponents of this view
hold that Saudis share a desire with many other countries in
Asia, to adopt the ubiquitous Western cultural identity.
The real reasons that Saudis slip easily between one culture
and another may be far more pragmatic. Saudi women may
wish to change their clothes merely because wearing an
abaya is plain uncomfortable. Another reason is the fear of
mistreatment on arrival in the West, or the East. Since the
9-11 event in 2001 , and the subsequent terrorist scares, it may
now be awkward, or even dangerous, to get around the streets
of New York and other Western cities, dressed in a thobe and
gutra— the apparel of a terrorist in a prevailing Western view.
Geographically, Saudi Arabia sits at the boundary of the West
and the East. Culturally, its position is much the same. Arabs
have fraternised with people from neighbouring countries for
a long time and adopted many foreign ways. Many Arabs have
already forsaken their traditional clothes in their domestic day-
to-day lives. In places like Lebanon and Egypt, Western clothes
are common. By contrast, most Saudis wear their traditional
clothes inside their own country. Outside the country, as they
see fit, some adopt the identity of the destination country
while others stick with their own national dress.
SAUDI ARABIA'S BEDOUINS
Like other Bedouins, only two generations back, even the
Al Saud Royal Family walked or caught a camel when
they wanted to travel. Though the present generation of
72 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Saudi princes live in palaces, members of the House of
Saud have not strayed all that far from their Bedouin roots.
King Abdullah, born in 1923, might just be old enough to
remember a life of tents, camels and austere pleasures from
the early days of his own life.
Since the House of Saud has been running the country, the
policy of mutual support between Bedouins and the Royal
family has worked well for both parties. For their part, the
Bedouins have provided the bulk of the judiciary, most of
the religious leaders and much of the Praetorian Guard that
protects the King and his entourage from various potentially
subversive forces (including elements of the Saudi military).
Despite the homogenising influence of globalism, much of
Bedouin culture has survived intact, particularly in Saudi Arabia's
more remote regions. Even in the 21st century, a significant
nomadic population follows a close replica of the traditional
Bedouin way of life. Modern-day Bedouins still pitch and strike
tents, move their flocks about the countryside and generally
behave in a Bedouin-like manner. On the fringes of the Empty
Quarter— the desolate, waterless plains in the south of the
Arabian Peninsula — the tribes of the Rub Al Khali (the Rashih,
Saar, Manahil, Manhrah, Awamit, Bani Yas and Dawasir) still
operate their traditional complex cultural mix of honour-based
tribal lives of conflicts, raids and fragile alliances.
Land Compensation Claims, Bedouin-style
Bedouins have long lived by trading. Since they were traditionally on
the move, Bedouins failed to develop a culture of property ownership
common in societies which adopted permanent agriculture. However,
when western influence arrived, some Bedouins cottoned onto the
idea of land rights quickly enough and cashed in. Bedouin tribes,
according to popular accounts, followed pipeline projects across
the country, making financial demands on oil companies, claiming
the companies were intruding on their traditional lands. The more
audacious claimants, having learned of an intended pipeline route
in advance, would set up an encampment ahead of construction
and claim the pipe was infringing some ancient right. Appeals by oil
companies to the king would normally be settled on the side of the
Bedouins. Money would pass hands and the Bedouins would move
their camps to establish their ancient civilisation somewhere else
where a construction project was about to start.
Who are the Saudis? 73
According to some estimates, Saudi Arabia still has
600,000 full-time Bedouins and many more part-timers. In
modern society, Bedouins may wear their tribal affiliations as
a badge of honour. Bedouinism is like citizenship. It carries
financial and social advantage. To some extent, modern-day
Bedouins can have the best of both worlds. They can enjoy
their Bedouinism without quite making the full commitment
to the nomadic life style of their ancestors. Courtesy of its
oil revenue, the government has created a fall-back position
for Bedouins, the markaz — small towns of concrete block
houses— to accommodate Bedouins wishing to adopt an
urban lifestyle and in which they can receive health care and
their children can receive education.
The success of the markaz programme has been mixed.
Some Bedouins still prefer to stay in the desert to tend their
camels in the traditional way. Others stay in town, perhaps
reluctantly. Only a couple of generations away from life in
the desert, urban Saudis with no obvious connection to the
nomadic life may retain an affinity with their antecedents.
According to one observer, "the first thing a Saudi does on
building a house is erect a tent in the garden."
EDUCATION
Primary and Secondary Education
Education in the kingdom is universal and free for Saudis, but
not compulsory. Most Saudis attend kindergarten followed by
six years of primary school, three years of middle school and
three years of high school. In a country where the sexes are kept
separate, schools for Saudis are not co-educational. Teaching
tends to be by rote learning of facts. Long passages from the
Qur'an are memorised. Intellectual curiosity incompatible
with religious dogma is discouraged. Aversion to other religious
beliefs is instilled at an early age. Saudi children are encouraged
to recite sayings such as 'I will purify the Arabian Peninsula of
Jews and Christians' (attributed to Omar the second Caliph).
The Wahhabi manifesto, the Tawhid, is compulsory study
that cites, amongst its teachings, that Allah has said never
support the infidels'. The products of this educational system
are steeped in religious dogma that does not, in general, equip
Who are the Saudis? 75
them to make their way in the modern world and hold down
significant jobs.
Universities
In 2008, there were 21 universities in the kingdom. 13 of which
have been founded since 2000. Saudi universities include
King Saud University in Riyadh, King Abdul Aziz University
in Jeddah, and King Faisal University in Al Dammam. Other
tertiary level institutions are the Technical Institute in Riyadh
and the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in
Dhahran. Various Western universities have campuses in Saudi
Arabia. With this recent influx of new universities about to
produce their first graduates, the number of Saudi graduates is
set to increase sharply, with about 30,000 graduates expected
to enter the job market in 201 5. One of the effects, the Ministry
of Education estimates, is that the proportion of teaching
staff in Saudi tertiary institutions will rise to about 40 per
cent— which could affect the chances of expat workers seeking
the same posts. On the other hand, only about 20 per cent
of the country's graduates qualify in technical and scientific
subjects— the skills that Saudi Arabia particularly needs.
Education in Saudi Arabia is still strongly biased towards
its Islamic roots. Curricula for all disciplines emphasises
Islamic Sharia laws and the Qur'an, with a heavy emphasis on
Islamic studies. Unemployed, and for all practicable purposes,
unemployable graduates of religious colleges— numbering
about 400,000 in 2005— provide a ready supply of rebels to
trouble the administrators in modern day Saudi society.
Prejudices in Education
Women, according to Saudi authorities, are entitled to an education.
A hadith of the Prophet Muhammad states: 'seeking knowledge is a
mandate for every Muslim (male and female)'. Despite the fact that
females outperform their male counterparts academically in Saudi
secondary schools by a wide margin (with 60 per cent of females going
onto college after graduation against 50 per cent of males), prejudice
against Saudi females exists even among the educated, as evidenced
by an editorial in the local Arab News. 'Is there any logical justification,'
the editorial runs, 'for spending huge amounts of money on women's
education when thousands of female graduates face the prospect of
either remaining at home or entering a single profession?'
76 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Expat Schools
International schools teaching an international syllabus are
available at the major population centres to accommodate
the needs of dependants of the expatriate workforce.
International schools inside Saudi Arabia are co-educational
as they are anywhere else. Further details are contained in
the Resource Guide at the back of this book.
GETTING TO KNOW
THE SAUDIS
'A terrorist is someone who has a bomb
but doesn't have an air force.'
—William Blum, in his book Rogue State
78 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
THE CULTURAL DIVIDE
Rudyard Kipling, the great 1 9th century Anglo-Indian author
once remarked 'west is west and east is east, and never
the twain shall meet'. As many writers have observed, in
no region of the world do Western and Eastern cultures
clash so abruptly as in the great cultural melting pot of the
Middle East.
On the surface, the culture of Western consumerism
seems alive and well in Saudi Arabia as in most places.
People strive to build enormous houses for themselves and
their extended families. Young Saudi men drive souped-up
cars, patronise fast food outlets and wear designer jeans.
Shopping malls offer a global selection of merchandise and
trade long into the night.
But at a deeper level, Saudi Arabia and the West are
poles apart, divided by the fundamental source of Saudi
Arabian inspiration and aspiration — Islam — the world's most
dominant religious force. As a visitor, Islam is, to a degree,
thrust upon you. Whatever you are doing in the kingdom,
religion will affect some aspect of your day. Islamic beliefs
underlie just about everything that happens in this country.
Even though you may not be a member of the faith, its
dictates will influence some aspects of your existence.
As a guest worker, how closely you align yourself with
the culture of the host country is your own choice, though
some aspects, such as participation in the Muslim religion,
Getting to Know the Saudis 79
will remain off limits. Many Western expat guest workers,
perhaps the majority, don't become deeply involved with the
Saudi way of life. They arrive. They work. They get paid. They
complete their contracts, then ship out to work somewhere
else. Many expats work for years in Saudi Arabia without
learning a word of Arabic and without significant contact
with their Saudi hosts. Saudis have no problem with this
attitude. A master/servant relationship has existed between
the host country and its guest workforce for decades. To the
Saudis, the guest workforce is paid good money to perform
its task in their country. On the other hand, Arab nations
have long traditions of hospitality. Saudis may well seek the
company and friendship of their visitors. If so, your time in
Saudi Arabia may be the richer for it.
THE WORKER BEES
Importing a foreign workforce in the country to perform both
menial and professional tasks has a history that extends
well back before the discovery of oil. Saudi Arabia has had a
long tradition of slavery. Slaves were taken (euphemistically
termed 'harvested') from across North Africa in the days
when slavery was considered an altogether normal activity.
Slave traders tended to be Arabs, while slaves themselves
were sourced from the northern African tribes in the same
way the European traders took their slaves and sent them to
the New World. Slavery was only officially abolished in Saudi
Arabia in 1961— under duress from President Kennedy.
Modern day slavery in Saudi Arabia might sound worse
than it really was. Slavery in Arabia was not quite the brutal
racially segregated system of some other parts of the world.
Slaves were probably treated about the same as their modern
day replacements, today's guest workers from the less
privileged countries like India and the Philippines. Slavery
has existed within in the lifetime of many present day Saudis.
Amongst Saudis, a semblance of the slave owner mentality
sometimes lingers on.
Unlike the floating population of guest workers, slaves in
past eras were not returned to their countries of origin at the
end of their assignments. They stayed on. Descendants of
80 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
African tribes have integrated and intermarried with Arab
society to gain the same acceptance as citizens. The merging
between Arab and African genealogy is imperceptible. Little
racial distinction is felt between Saudi Arabia of different
ethnicities. As a testament to this history, you are likely to meet
Saudi citizens with skin colours from very light to very dark,
and with features that range from Caucasian to African.
The origins of the present expatriate workforce lay in the
oil industry. The first oil industry workers, the geological
survey crews, arrived in Saudi Arabia during the 1930s. By
the early 1940s, after the first commercial oil wells were
brought into production the first permanent expatriate
workforce arrived to operate the country's oil industry. Saudis,
at the time, were still nomadic people with no tradition of
working in organisations, no skills and little education outside
interpreting the Qur'an. Very few people were literate.
So far, the Saudis have been unable to kick the habit of
importing their workforce. For two generations after its
discovery, Saudi Arabia has lived almost solely off its oil
revenue, reinvesting some of the proceeds in development
projects. To staff their industrialisation programme,
Getting to Know the Saudis 81
once more the Saudis turned to the wider world and the
dependency on foreign workers continued unabated. In the
60-odd years after the first oil field came into commercial
operation and the country started modernising, the guest
workforce is still at work in Saudi Arabia — in greater numbers
than ever before. The total population of Saudi Arabia in 2008
was 28 million of whom 5.6 million were expatriate workers.
Two generations of Saudis have grown up in a country in
which every fifth person is a foreigner — or in Saudi Arabian
parlance, an alien.
The majority of these aliens may, from Western eyes, be
indistinguishable from the Saudis themselves. The largest
single source of guest workers to Saudi Arabia is Yemen.
Yemenis account for 10 per cent of the Saudi population,
or about half the immigrant workforce. Other Arab people
from Lebanon, Palestine and Egypt are also present in the
kingdom in significant numbers. Arabic-speaking Muslim
expatriates also come from Africa, in particular Somalia,
which also provides a significant guest population.
These countries have long been a source of labour in
Saudi Arabia. In the 1950s, Saudi Arabia largely filled
positions as teachers and doctors from places like Egypt,
Lebanon and Syria. From the point of view of a Saudi
employer, non-Saudi Arabs had the advantages of speaking
Arabic and being Muslims. But over the years, other
expatriate groups from many corners of the world, and
speaking many languages and practising different religions
have also been imported to work in Saudi Arabia. Major
source countries for the Saudi expatriate workforce include
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Thailand,
North America and Europe.
Such a large group of aliens from disparate backgrounds
might have been expected to strain the social fabric of the
guest nation more than it has. As things stand, relations
between Saudi Arabia and its guest workers are reasonably
harmonious. The foreign workforce has exerted surprisingly
little impact on Saudi society, though once in a while, guest
workers step out of line and suffer the displeasure of the
authorities. From the point of view of the guest worker, this
82 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
is an outcome to be avoided at all costs. In recent times, with
the rise of terrorism worldwide, guest workers, in particular
Westerners, have become targeted by disaffected religious
groups objecting to the presence in the Holy Land of Islam
of the immigrant workforce of infidels.
THE PECKING ORDER
The status of guest workers fits an established hierarchy of
Saudi social order. Your tier in the pecking order depends on
who you are, your country of origin and what you have arrived
to do. If you are visiting Saudi Arabia to keep an appointment
with the King, you will get the red carpet treatment afforded to
VIPs anywhere. If you are a diplomat, you will be granted the
normal perks and respect that the service attracts. If you are on
a business trip, you have come to a place with long traditions
in trading; most likely you will be treated well. As a salaried
worker of some importance in a multinational company, you
will be treated reasonably. If you have come to work for a Saudi
company, your status may be somewhat more ambiguous.
An important factor determining your status is your
country of origin. In Saudi Arabia, the hierarchy between
guest workers from various countries and in various
occupations is well established. At the top of the totem pole
of privilege are the Saudis themselves. People from selected
nearby Arab countries are next. High-ranking Arab countries
in the eyes of Saudis are the oil producers— Bahrain, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar and the UAE. If you are a Westerner, depending
on your job, you are likely to be afforded a status somewhere
between the premier Arab states and the lesser Arab states.
Arab countries not blessed with oil— Jordan, Egypt, Syria,
Palestine and Yemen — rank further down the totem pole.
At the time of writing, the status of war-torn Iraq is
ambivalent. Shi'ites in the south of Iraq are the natural
enemies of the Saudis . The Sunnis, who were in power under
Saddam Hussein, would, under more normal circumstances,
be the natural allies.
Iran, a bastion of the Shi'ite faith in the Middle East, is
also a traditional enemy. Saudis suspect the Iranians for
fomenting discontent of their own population of Shi'ites
Getting to Know the Saudis 83
concentrated in the Eastern and adjoining Najarn Provinces,
the closest part of Saudi Arabia to Iran. In Saudi Arabia,
being a Shi'ite is almost akin to being a dissident.
Next level down are Third Country Nationals (TCNs), also
known as Asian and Sub-Continent Nationals. Of this group,
office workers — very often Filipino males, sometimes people
from the Indian sub-continent— fare the best. These people
tend to be professionals in their own country who work in
Saudi Arabia in less intellectually demanding occupations
at better pay than is available in higher status jobs in their
home countries.
The bottom of the totem pole is a pretty crowded
area of uneducated people from Third World countries-
Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Thailand — working in poorly-
paid labouring assignments and service jobs or assigned to
domestic duties in Arab homes in which Filipina maids tend
to predominate. Eritrean and Yemeni street sweepers are
other typical occupations and nationalities somewhere near
the totem pole's bottom rung.
LONG-TERM IMMIGRANTS
An assumption that people tend to make on visiting a foreign
country is that people you meet are likely to be locals unless
they look like foreigners. But not everyone in the country
84 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
wearing a thobe can be assumed to be a Saudi citizen. Though
to the Western eye, Saudis and non-Saudi Arabs may look
much the same, there are some traditional differences in the
patterns and colours of the gutra that may provide a clue to
the nationality of the wearer. In addition, anyone working
in a menial job in Saudi Arabia and wearing traditional Arab
dress is almost certainly a non-Saudi Arab.
At least half the non-Saudi workforce are migrants from
surrounding Arab countries who speak Arabic and dress in a
similar manner to the members of their host country. Non-
Saudi Arabs tend to stay in Saudi Arabia for long periods and
make a much larger commitment to their host country than
First World expats who arrive on short-term assignments,
bank their earnings in an offshore bank, then leave at the
end of their contract period for another job somewhere else.
Guest workers from nearby Arab countries — from places like
Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Yemen— build their lives,
businesses and families in Saudi Arabia where opportunities
are far greater than their home countries. These people have
effectively emigrated to Saudi Arabia. Yemenis, in particularly,
run some of the largest businesses in the country. The bin
Laden family, owners of the country's largest construction
company, originally came from Yemen.
SEPARATE SOCIETIES
In a melting pot society with many different cultures
and languages, occasional conflicts are inevitable.
Relations between the guest workforce and the Saudis
may carry resentments on both sides. Ingoing perceptions
are sometimes negative. Some Westerners disparage the
Saudis as 'ragheads'— the not too respectful name for the
characteristic apparel of Saudis and other Arabs. The Saudis,
for their part, may regard their guest workforce as infidels.
With the objective of keeping their employees out
of trouble, most large companies hiring expats to
work in Saudi Arabia issue a set of guidelines with
their employment packages recommending how their
employees should interact with the local populations.
For their part, to keep a lid on conflict between themselves
Getting to Know the Saudis 85
and the guest workforce, the Saudis have physically
separated the local people and the guest workers. On large
construction projects, construction workers are typically
housed in camps, which are themselves often internally
segregated into racial groups. Large construction camps,
housing say 2,000 workers, will have separate dormitories
for different nationalities. They might have half a dozen
mess-halls serving the main ethnic foods of those residing in
the camps — for example, a choice of Western, Thai, Indian,
Filipino and Middle Eastern food may be offered.
Some visitors like to adopt the culture of the country they
are visiting. They like to learn the language, eat the local foods
and generally 'go native'. The flowing robes and headgear
of Saudi dress which have evolved to suit the climate of the
desert might seem the logical apparel to wear in a country
where most people are dressing that way. But copying the
Saudi dress code should be practiced discreetly, if at all. You
can certainly buy a thobe for yourself at the local shop but if
so, it's best worn in the privacy of your house, perhaps in the
street, but certainly not to work. But guest workers are better
to restrict the copying of the Saudi dress code to wearing
loose-fitting clothes and wide brimmed hats, particularly in
summer time. If you, as a Westerner, take to getting around
in Arab gear, Saudis may consider that you are mocking their
culture. While you are in their country, Saudis prefer you to
act within the cultural norms of your country. In their eyes,
your role is to be you, not them.
Politically Sensitive Dress Code
Expatriate English friends of one of the authors thought their work
assignment would be a good opportunity to follow local fashions. They
were working for a Saudi company alongside Saudis who sometimes
showed up to work in Western dress, but generally wore their
traditional thobes and gutras. The two English guest workers went
downtown to get fitted up by the local tailor then one day, dressed
for work in their newly acquired thobes and gutras. They were sent
back home by their Saudi boss to change into their normal Western
clothes. They did, but later persisted in violating this cultural norm.
Next time they showed up at work attired as Arabs, they had their
contracts terminated and were sent home.
86 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
EXPATRIATE WOMEN
Women in service occupations such as teaching or specialist
female occupations such as female health care may succeed
in getting a work visa for Saudi Arabia. Other than that, if
you are a woman seeking work, Saudi Arabia may not be
the place for you. Spouses of foreigners working in Saudi
Arabia who are not themselves working are termed 'trailing
spouses'. Trailing spouses are mostly women, though
occasionally non-working foreign men live in Saudi Arabia
with their working wives.
Occasionally, female dependents of male guest workers
in Saudi Arabia may get work on a casual basis. But a
certain level of risk, for both the employee and employer, is
attached to the practice of working in Saudi Arabia without
a work permit.
Removing Women From the Workforce
A multinational company in Saudi Arabia decided to employ
some of its bored housewives as office workers. This was an
unofficial arrangement and the women did not hold work permits.
When the word got out to the wider community, a squad of
Mutawa'een was despatched to investigate. As the Mutawa'een
stormed through the front door of the office to determine if the
laws relating to vice and virtue had been violated, the working
women were bundled out the back, never to return to the
workplace. The female secretarial staff were then replaced by
men, mostly Filipinos.
Subject to the same irksome restrictions as their Saudi
counterparts, foreign women living but not working in
Saudi Arabia are likely to be prone to attacks of boredom.
Saudis impose similar restrictions to foreign women in the
kingdom as they do on their own women. The Mutawa'een
are aware that foreign women hold liberated views on
life by local standards and take steps to restrict such
ideas flowing across the cultural divide into the heads of
Saudi women.
One of the regulations in Saudi Arabia that most irritates
expatriate women is the prohibition on driving. Though
women are prohibited from driving in public streets, in
The Khurais oil field began operating in June 2009, further
raising overall oil production in the kingdom that has the
highest proven reserves of oil in the world today.
Families enjoy the sunset along the
Jeddah Corniche near the Red Sea. In the
distance is a fountain that shoots water
upwards to heights of over 300 m.
Getting to Know the Saudis 87
some places, rules are bent sufficiently to allow foreign
women to drive within compounds but not outside. In
other places, rules are more strictly applied both within
and without.
Most of the civil laws in Saudi Arabia have been taken
from the Qur'an. But it is hard to believe that God's
instructions delivered to the Prophet Muhammad by the
Archangel Gabriel in the 7th century in some cave near
Mecca intended that women in the 21 st century should be
prohibited from driving a car. But this is the interpretation
the clerics have made.
One of the consequences of the restriction on women
drivers is a work scheme for chauffeurs. A March 2002 issue
of The Economist reported there were approximately half
a million chauffeurs in the kingdom and payment of their
salaries represented 1 per cent of the kingdom's income. A
high proportion of these chauffeurs are employed driving
women who would drive themselves if they were allowed to
get a driver's licence.
88 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Female Locomotion, Saudi Style
A particularly rebellious, bored and ingenious expatriate woman
married to a male colleague of one of the authors tested the envelope
of the rule book regarding the using of wheels in Saudi Arabia.
Denied the use of a car, she bought a bicycle and proceeded to pedal
it around her compound. When the Mutawa'een found out, they
were not amused. They issued a directive — women on bikes were
not allowed by the Qur'an. Unseated but undeterred, this stalwart
for women's rights then bought a pair of roller skates and proceeded
to skate around the compound. This time around, the Mutawa'een
were even less amused. Any form of wheels at all were precluded
by the Qur'an, they declared. There was talk of extreme punishment
for breaking the laws of the land after getting a first warning. But all
that happened was the woman and her skates were separated.
Wives or daughters entitled to accompany or visit guest
workers in Saudi Arabia may get frustrated to the point
of exasperation by the niggling and seemingly pointless
restrictions that the country imposes on its women. But even
those inclined to rebel don't face much real danger. The same
cannot be said for female guest workers further down the
pecking order. Domestic staff from the Third World face a
life of isolation from their own culture, and total dependency
on the goodwill of their employers. For them, Saudi Arabia
can truly be a hardship posting.
If the employer decides to abuse, starve, sexually exploit
and underpay his Third World employee, the employee
has little option, other than suicide, than to put up with the
maltreatment. Embassies of Third World countries like the
Philippines, India and Pakistan are ineffective at redressing
the grievances of citizens employed by unscrupulous Saudis.
In any case, the embassies may not learn of the abuses
to their nationals since female servants are not allowed
outside their house of employment without their employer's
permission. In addition, abused employees cannot flee the
country since they can't get hold of their own passports and
if they could, they would be unable to get an exit visa without
their employer's approval. Should the matter come to court,
no Saudi court conducted by male religious appointees is
likely to find in favour of a non-Muslim female guest worker
from a Third World country.
Getting to Know the Saudis 89
Outside their place of
employment, foreign domestic
workers can also get rough
treatment from any passer-by
Amnesty International and
otherhuman rights organisations
relate tragic stories of Filipina
domestic servants abused by
their Saudi employers.
who happens to feel obliged
to exercise social discipline. The authors once observed
the Mutawa'een caning the legs of a pair of Filipino girls
considered to be showing too much ankle. Similar scenes of
public canings of females for no apparent reason were beamed
in from Afghanistan during the reign of the Taliban.
MALE BONDING
Acceptable body contact behaviour in Saudi Arabia is
almost the opposite of its counterpart in Western countries.
Only men frequent the crowded sidewalk cafes and coffee
bars. Males do a great deal of touching in public whereas
touching between males and females in Saudi Arabia is
almost never seen. You will often see men, young and old,
walking down the street hand-in-hand or at coffee shops in
deep conversations with other men. Anyone who works with
Saudis will have experienced the capacity of Saudi males
to show physical affection to even the remotest of chance
acquaintances. Saudis tend to break off from whatever they
are doing to engage in conversation with a passing friend.
Until you get used to it, these sudden switches of focus can
be disconcerting.
Reuniting with a Long Lost Brother?
On one occasion, one of the authors was deeply engrossed in a
conference with his Saudi boss, Saleh, when another Saudi entered
the office. When the Saudi visitor entered the office, Saleh leapt
from his chair to embrace the man. They kissed. The visitor drew
up a chair and they held hands while the coffee was brought. The
subject of the conference was forgotten for 30 minutes while the two
entered a deep conversation. The author sat silently watching all this,
believing he was witnessing the return of a long lost brother. After
the visitor departed, the author asked Saleh who the visitor might
have been. Was that your brother? Was he some school friend who
had gone missing for 20 years? Was he a favourite cousin? To the
author's surprise, Saleh replied the man was a complete stranger.
The two had never met before.
■
90 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Such instant rapport and hospitality to strangers is thought
to stem from the ways of the Bedouin a couple of generations
before. For those who spent their time roaming the desert
mounted on a camel and in the company of a flock of sheep,
the sight of a stranger stumbling out of the desert was a
welcome diversion! From the wanderer's point of view,
equally welcome was sight of a tented encampment where
water, food and shelter might be available. The tradition of
the desert decreed that wandering strangers be offered the
hospitality of the encampment in return for an account of
the stranger's journey. In the offices of the modern world,
the tradition lives on!
The fact that men are extraordinarily affectionate to one
another may suggest to guest workers that they have arrived
at the global centre of homosexuality. This is not so. Taking
its cues from its founder, Islam is a strongly heterosexual
religion. Homosexual activity is a criminal offence that can
attract the death sentence or, at very least, a long stretch
in prison, with the customary public flogging served as an
additional punishment.
Sex, both homosexual and heterosexual, is a taboo subject
in Saudi Arabia more than in most places. The opportunities
of young Saudi males to express their heterosexual desires
are almost as limited as young Saudi females to express
theirs. Wherever you go in the country, you are struck by the
shortage of women in public places. What goes on between
consenting unmarried people behind closed doors is the
subject of much conjecture among the expat community.
DRESS CODE FOR SAUDI MEN
The major item of apparel for Arab men is known as a thobe,
an ankle-length coverall. Along with its accessory, the head
scarf called the gutra, the thobe is the national dress of Saudi
Arabia and surrounding Arab states.
Dress code in this area of the world varies little from one
occupation to another. The thobe and gutra is ubiquitous
apparel, worn across all socio-economic groups. There is no
telling from his dress whether a man is an office worker, a
shopkeeper, a construction worker or a taxi driver.
Getting to Know the Saudis 91
Saudi men dressed in thobes, bischts and gutras.
In summer, the thobe is a lightweight cotton garment,
almost invariably coloured plain white. Wintertime thobes are
a little more adventurous, made out of thicker material such
as fine wool that may be patterned and are generally some
pale colour such as ochre or grey. Men's headgear comprises
a cap known as a tagia over which the gutra is secured by
one or two cords known as an egal. In winter, men may also
wear something similar to an academic gown known as a
mishlah or a bischt. Saudi men in high positions may dress
up a bit more, sometimes in winter wearing a bischt edged
in gold silk.
Saudis of whatever status like to wear gold— rings,
watches, bracelets, necklaces and cigarette cases. The other
accessory with which Saudis equip themselves— at least
if they are office workers or important officials — is a set
of prayer beads, colloquially known as 'worry beads'. The
original purpose of the beads was to count the number of
prayers during prayer calls. The beads come as a string like
a small necklace, usually in a set of 33 or 99 beads. Outside
92 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
their official function of counting prayers, worry beads are
habitually busy, getting a good working over during most of
their owners' waking hours.
DRESS CODE FOR SAUDI WOMEN
Saudi women in black abayas dress even more uniformly
than their men. As the national dress for women, the
Judaic tradition of abaya-wearing stretches back to
Biblical times.
According to Dr Zakir Naik, the President of the Islamic
Research Foundation in Mumbai, India, the Qur'an
stipulates the following as dress code for Muslims: 'The
first criterion is the extent of the body which should be
covered. This is different for men and women. The male
should cover his body at least from the navel to the knees.
Women are obliged to cover their entire bodies except the
hands and feet.'
Additional rules prescribed for women's attire are the
cut, closeness of fit, construction and style. To meet the
approved dress code, clothes should be sufficiently loose-
fitting to conceal the figure, should be of opaque material,
should not be glamorous and should not be marked by
Viewing the world through the hijab (veil worn by Muslim women).
Getting to Know the Saudis 93
symbols of unbelievers. Ultra-conservative Muslims believe
for a women to reveal her face to anybody but her relatives
is un-Islamic. Most women you see moving along the street
are dressed in black abayas and have their faces covered;
their sandaled feet, their hands and their eyes the only body
parts on display. A minority cover only their heads leaving
their faces uncovered.
While the style and cut of abayas is ubiquitous, the
quality of the cloth may vary. As an indicator of social
status, expensive abayas may have an upmarket brand
label exposed for peer group approval. Abayas worn in
public as black may be reversible, with blue on one side,
black on the other. Within the home, abayas can be worn
blue-side out.
Outsiders speculate how much Saudi women like or dislike
wearing the abaya. Statements from Saudi women themselves
regarding their society's insistence on wearing abayas are
mixed. Some claim abayas are
uncomfortable and that inside
their own homes they discard
the abaya for Western clothes.
Others feel that the abaya affords
the wearer valued anonymity
and protection. The abaya also
offers a convenience that no
other garment can match. Saudi
women can throw an abaya over
any level of underclothing from
pyjamas to a Dior outfit. An additional advantage for those
who feel self-conscious about their figures: the abaya is an
excellent cover against unfashionable bulges.
Why the abaya should be coloured black is some sort
of mystery that the authors have not solved. From a heat
absorption point of view, black is the absolute worst colour
to wear in the baking climate of Saudi Arabia. Reports
are that life can get mighty hot inside an abaya and
uncomfortable too since to keep the thing on, the wearer
must incline her head forward in a way that she appears to
be looking at the ground in an attitude of submission. Were
Female Liberationists
Express Themselves
Neo-liberated young expat
women have been seen
registering their protests
against abaya wearing 'punk'
abayas— torn up in the manner
of ancient jeans worn by young
women of the wider world's
grunge rock society.
94 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
these rules of apparel merely design flaws that happened
by accident, or were they contrived to inconvenience
the fairer sex? The Qur'an appears to be silent on this
question. Dr Naik does not list the colour black as one
of the Qur'an's dress code rules for abayas. But black
they are.
In contrast with the abaya, we note as a sideline
comment, the thobe worn by the Saudi male is white — the
most heat-reflective colour of all, and therefore most
climate-friendly. Saudi colour code is the opposite of
Western colour code, where brides wear white (the
traditional colour of purity) whereas bridegrooms
(for reasons that can only be speculated) traditionally
wear black. From a female perspective, this does
seem a more realistic colour coding system than the
Arabian alternative.
DRESS CODE FOR ALIENS: MEN
There is a story that when King Ibn Saud invited the oil
company executives into Saudi Arabia in the 1930s, he
insisted the Americans dressed as Arabs, which the American
guests proceeded to do. But with the massive influx of guest
workers into Saudi Arabia in recent years, sentiment in this
area has changed. Saudis are touchy about sharing their
culture with foreigners. Having foreigners getting around in
their country dressed like Lawrence of Arabia has now fallen
out of favour.
Office attire in Saudi Arabia is that appropriate to your
country of origin. Businesspeople will be expected to wear
suits — lightweight for most of the year and medium-weight
for the few weeks of winter. For those further down the social
order, shirt and slacks will suffice.
One exception to the advice of not adopting the local
dress code is footwear. Almost all Arabs wear sandals, or at
least opened-backed shoes that can be slipped on and off
as necessary e.g. when entering places such as mosques
where shoes are unacceptable. They rarely wear socks. This
is sensible footwear for the locality. In most places, wearing
sandals by Western expats is considered acceptable. But for
Getting to Know the Saudis 95
most situations, sandals are about the limit of acceptable
Arabisation in the apparel area.
Like many hot countries, Saudi Arabia has a parallel
climate— the air-conditioning of offices, cars, restaurants
and hotels. In a country of blistering heat, local fashion
dictates that air-conditioning be turned down to a level that
can chill the marrow in your bones. Saudi culture regarding
air-conditioning seems to be based on some sort of macho
idea that those with the lowest temperature settings are
the highest in the social pecking order. Moving between
freezing air inside buildings to the desert heat outside can be
discomforting and even health threatening. Those wearing
glasses and exiting a building may be temporarily blinded
by the mist of condensation when their cold lenses make
contact with the hot moist outside air.
96 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
For those whose occupation requires them to
move from office to office, carrying a coat is strongly
recommended, if not for its formality then for its warmth.
After a few near-death experiences from pneumonia
occasioned by air conditioning, both the authors would
carry coats with them whenever they were out visiting
someone else's office, or were likely to hitch a ride
in someone else's vehicle.
DRESS CODE FOR ALIENS: WOMEN
Dress code for alien women varies somewhat between regions
of Saudi Arabia. Standards of modesty are more rigorous in
Riyadh than in cities on either coastline. In most places, foreign
women aren't expected to cover completely. Cool, loose-fitting
clothes in light cotton fabrics are recommended. Exposing bare
legs and arms is against the rules. Shorts and short-sleeved
tops are unacceptable. Slacks are also unacceptable because
they are too revealing of the female form.
Getting to Know the Saudis 97
Some women find wearing a lightweight hooded coverall
like an academic gown that can be slipped over normal
clothes is the easiest way to comply with the dress code
of the street. Some also carry a large black scarf that can
be donned should the Mutawa'een suddenly appear on
the scene.
Women have greater opportunities than men to pass
themselves off as Arabs if they feel so inclined. A fully-
covering Saudi ensemble of abaya, hijab (or burka) displays
only the hands, the feet and the eyes. Foreign woman
wishing to experience local cultural norms can dress
Saudi style, find a friend and wander the streets. Since
women do not normally interact with strangers, fluency
in Arabic is not required to maintain the disguise. During
the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, by dressing up as
women, male reporters claimed they could walk around
in areas restricted to Westerners. No one could tell that
these creatures encased from head to toe in loose-fitting
fabric, were in reality, cross-gender, cross-culture, cross-
dressing reporters disguised to live long enough to file
their stories.
Wings Clipped
The Saudi branch of the US military has, over recent years,
maintained a delicate relationship with its Saudi hosts. After the
first Gulf War, the US maintained a presence on Saudi soil with
the objective of protecting the northern borders with Iraq and
maintaining security inside Saudi Arabia. The presence of the US
military personnel of infidels was opposed by clerics and religious
fundamentalists. The US tried its best to fit in. Endeavouring to
comply with local cultural norms, the military required the few
female personnel based in Saudi Arabia to wear black, head-to-foot
abayas. In 1995, Lieutenant Colonel Martha McSally, the highest-
ranking female fighter pilot in the US Air Force, initiated an effort
in court to end what she considered was discriminatory treatment.
Lt Col McSally was licensed to fly supersonic fighters over Saudi
Arabia and frequently did so. She objected not only to the dress
code, but also to the prohibition preventing her from driving herself
around the base. In her trips between the airstrip and her quarters,
this supersonic pilot was relegated to the rear of a vehicle driven
by a male officer who was subordinate to her rank, but held a valid
driver's licence.
E
98 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS
Despite sharing some common roots, prophets and
angels, Islam and Christianity have historically been in
competition for hearts and minds. Tensions between the
two religions can present problems to devout Christians
working in the kingdom. Some Muslims claim Islam is
tolerant of other religions, but this tolerance is unlikely
to be apparent to visitors to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi
version of Islam is aggressive. As in the Catholic world
of the late Middle Ages religion, law and the state merge
imperceptibly to suppress political dissidents under the
cloak of religious respectability.
Saudi Arabia has no Christian churches or any other
non-Muslim houses of worship. Prayer meetings of non-
Muslim groups are held in private venues and may be
banned at the whim of the Mutawa'een, which exercises
its power to haul those suspected of a religious crime
into criminal courts. Though you might have entered
'Christian' on your immigration card, believers are advised
to practise Christianity discreetly. Even wearing a crucifix
can be illegal.
Of the individuals who might break the law, Saudis tend to
come down hardest on those with least influence. Favoured
victims of the Mutawa'een are people from the poorer Asian
countries whose embassies are hard-pressed to maintain
an effective presence in the kingdom. For nationalities that
profess alternative religious beliefs, this usually boils down
to Filipinos and Indians.
The Islamic calendar also complicates the life of devout
Christians. Thursday and Friday are the weekend in
Saudi Arabia. Those who wish to attend Sunday service
have difficulty doing so on the second day of the Saudi
working week. Religiously-inspired Saudi employers may
make a great show of checking whether Christians, and
particularly Filipino expatriates, are in attendance at their
Sunday workplaces.
For every service that is conducted, someone has to
conduct it. Christian preachers in Saudi Arabia are taking
a real risk. The Mutawa'een come down much harder on
Getting to Know the Saudis 99
preachers of alternative religions than on the congregation.
Amnesty International records many sad experiences of
guest workers accused by the Mutawa'een of spreading a
false faith.
The Risks of Preaching or Adopting the False Faith
Saudi Arabia's religious courts may impose the death penalty on
those who preach alternative religions in the kingdom, as well
as on any Muslim who renounces Islam. Since churches and
temples are banned, Saudi Arabia's religious police are alert to the
possibility of non-Muslim services in private homes, and encourage
those who suspect such services to report their suspicions to
the authorities.
Over the years Saudi Arabia's religious police have imprisoned
many a foreign worker for "preaching Christianity". Typical is the case
of Brian Savio O'Connor, a Christian and an Indian citizen who was
apprehended, taken to a mosque and later to prison, where he was
tortured over a period of weeks and threatened with death if he did
not renounce his faith and convert to Islam.
Those who involve themselves with the court cases of infidels
are also at risk. Lawyer Abdul-Rahman Alahim, acting for another
Indian client charged with religious offences, was jailed the day
after he appeared on the Arab news channel Al-Jazeera to urge his
government to free political prisoners and implement political reform.
His intervention was in relation to an incident where Saudi Arabia's
religious police arrested eight Christians, including one who was
beaten in front of his five-year-old son, before being taken to prison
to be beaten after which charges were laid.
After many complaints of this nature, the U.S. State Department,
usually silent on such matters, named Saudi Arabia a "country of
particular concern, subjecting it to possible sanctions for egregious
and ongoing violations of religious freedom where worshippers risk
arrest, imprisonment, lashing, deportation and sometimes torture
for engaging in religious activity that attracts official attention."
In the scale of religious offences, worse than preaching
in Saudi Arabia, is attempting to convert believers of other
religions to Christianity. Saudi Arabia is not a fertile region
for proselytisers. Young men from Salt Lake City and dressed
in ties and shirts are not seen prowling the streets of Riyadh
seeking converts. For good reason. Christians thought to be
promoting an anti-Muslim message face a possible death
sentence on the grounds of heresy.
100 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Saudis dance in celebration at a traditional wedding in Jeddah.
WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS
Weddings and funerals are strictly segregated affairs in
accordance with the mores of Saudi culture. Weddings in
particular are interesting in this regard, since in theory they
celebrate a bonding between the sexes. But in Saudi Arabia,
only one sex is present at wedding ceremonies which are
held separately for men and women. Since no men are
present at the bridal ceremony, women are allowed to
discard their veils and let their hair down, at least with other
women. (At some point during the wedding celebrations,
or maybe after they have been concluded, it is believed the
bride and groom do get together.)
Saudis pray at the simple unmarked grave of the late King Fahd.
Getting to Know the Saudis 101
Arrangements for funerals are even simpler. Though the
Qur'an is not absolutely clear on the point, the clerics have
ruled that women are not allowed to attend funerals (other
than their own), probably on the grounds that doing so would
involve women and men at social occasions mixing to an
unacceptable degree. Funerals for deceased men and women
are men-only occasions.
FALLING FOUL OF THE LAW
Saudi Arabia is not a country in which to step out of line.
You'll get a feel for what you can and can't do after you have
been there for a while. Those who are in daily contact with
Saudis are at the most risk from the Saudi legal system. For
dealings with Saudis which turn out badly, guest workers are
handy scapegoats.
Finding a Scapegoat
After being charged with bribery in his dealings with a Saudi
contractor, a colleague of one of the authors was put under house
arrest whereby he was compelled to stay inside a house in Saudi
Arabia for many years after his contract was meant to have
expired. Even the world's largest construction company, of whom
he was an employee, couldn't save him. Other guest workers
implicated in building collapses on other projects elsewhere in the
kingdom have faced manslaughter charges. The Saudi authorities
alleged poor design, though the more likely cause was poor
construction by Saudi contractors. The accused were detained in
the country at the leisure of the authorities while none too accurate
enquiries by authorities qualified in Shariah Law as distinct from
engineering, determined why structures failed.
The various macabre forms of punishment, some for
seemingly trivial crimes, are well publicised. Saudi Arabia
has an unsavory reputation with humanitarian groups like
Amnesty International. Political prisoners are detained
for years without trial. Torture is commonplace. Public
whippings are often part of the sentence. Amputation of the
right hand is the prescribed punishment for theft. Highway
robbery is punished by amputating the right hand and
the left foot.
102 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Brutal punishment is regularly perpetrated on the local
population and the guest workforce alike. Often, the victims
of the judicial system are convicted on the skimpiest of
evidence. Even if you are not a suspect, you need to be
careful in your dealings with the authorities, or better yet,
avoid them entirely. The Saudi Judiciary is unpredictable.
Punishment can be random and casually applied.
A Case of Wrongful Arrest
In a well-reported case, a Westerner thought he had lost his watch
in a hotel room. In the intervening period between last noticing
the watch and losing it, his room had been made up. Foolishly, as
it turned out, the guest reported the loss of his watch to the hotel
management who, after a search, reported it to the police. Suspicion
fell on the maid who had tidied the room. The maid was a Filipina.
Here was a small target that the Saudis could punish without undue
fuss to tidy up the case. The maid was picked up, interrogated, found
guilty and punished. Her right hand was amputated. Only later, after
the hotel guest found his watch in his luggage, did the complainant
learn of the maid's fate.
SECURITY AND SAFETY
Guest workers in Saudi Arabia are subject to an additional
level of risk from the 'war on terror' waged by the US and its
allies after 9-11 against real and perceived Islamic terrorists.
The mastermind behind the 9-11 attack is widely thought to
be Osama bin Laden, who had once been a Saudi citizen.
Bin Laden, whose views were well known to the Saudi Royal
family, has been persona non grata in Saudi Arabia for a
number of years and had his citizenship revoked in 1 994. On
the other hand, the bin Laden family has been enormously
enriched by its close association with the Saudi Royal Family
as well as the Bush family in the US. The bin Ladens also
have substantial construction interests on the east coast of
the US and may have even received contracts to repair some
of the 9-11 damage.
The US insists that the Saudis spare no effort
apprehending terrorists for their crimes. Anxious to keep
the alliance intact, the Saudis have co-operated vigorously
and, at times, randomly. Risks to guest workers are not
Getting to Know the Saudis 103
only from the terrorists themselves, but from Saudi
authorities seeking innocent foreign scapegoats to blame
for terror attacks.
In the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time
To avoid inciting their own militants to action and to avoid increasing
the influence the hawkish wing of the US administration criticising
Saudi Arabia for its tolerance of terrorists, Saudi authorities would
far rather pin the blame for bombings on anyone other than
their own citizens. In his book Saudi Babylon: Torture, Corruption
and Cover-up inside the House of Saud, British anaesthetist Sandy
Mitchell explains how he was framed by the Saudi authorities for
two bombings that occurred in Saudi Arabia in 2000. When he
was first picked up, Mitchell thought his was a case of mistaken
identity. He expected to be released as soon as the small problem of
establishing his identity was cleared up. He was quickly disillusioned.
He was refused rights to a lawyer and spent two and a half years
inside a Saudi jail where he was tortured into signing a confession
and forced to admit his guilt for the bombings on Saudi TV. He
was sentenced to death, but released before the sentence was
carried out.
Outside the court system, at a personal level, disputes
between fundamentalists and the US in particular have
increased the risks of working in Saudi Arabia. The
kingdom has suffered a number of bombings directed at
foreigners. In 1995, a bomb exploded at a US-operated
Saudi National Guard training centre in Riyadh, killing five
Americans. Four Saudi men were charged with the
bombing and confessions were extracted. The accused
were beheaded in Riyadh's main square. An oil-tanker
explosion in June 1 996 was in retaliation for this execution
and in the same year, a truck bomb blew the facade off
the Khobar Towers, a multi-storey US residential tower
block, killing 1 9 US servicemen. Thirteen Saudis and one
Lebanese were indicted for the attack. In May 2003, car
bombs exploded in a Riyadh residential compound killing a
targeted group of expatriate workers plus the car bombers
themselves. In 2006 an Al Qaeda cell tried to sabotage an
oil processing facility in Abqaiq on the east coast of Saudi
Arabia, with loss of life on both sides.
104 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Advice from the US Embassy (2001)
The US embassy in Saudi Arabia has urged its citizens in the country
to adopt extreme care. Advised the embassy:
"We strongly encourage all American citizens visiting or
resident in Saudi Arabia to maintain a high level of vigilance and
take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness and
reduce their vulnerability. Americans should maintain a low
profile, vary routes and times for all required travel, and treat
mail and packages from unfamiliar sources with suspicion. In
addition, American citizens are urged to avoid contact with any
suspicious, unfamiliar objects, and to report the presence of
such objects to local authorities. Vehicles should not be left
unattended, if at all possible, and should be kept locked
at all times. American citizens are urged to park their motor
vehicles in protected areas with restricted access and to
inspect the vehicles before using them, looking underneath,
inside the engine compartment, and inside the trunk. The use
of a flashlight for vehicle inspections at night is recommended.
Suspicious activities, individuals, or vehicles should be reported to
the US Embassy or nearest Consulate General. Licence numbers
of vehicles and descriptions of individuals are extremely helpful.
Saudi officials continue to co-operate closely with the Embassy to
ensure the safety of all Americans.'
THE ULTIMATE PENALTY
The method of legal executions in Saudi Arabia is beheading
with a sword. Saudi Arabia employs as its executioner a full-
time swordsman who travels to the various execution sites
Getting to Know the Saudis 105
around the country. From reports published in the media and
other sources within the country, estimates of the number
of executions range from 100 to 200 per year. Most human
rights organisations believe the actual figure is much higher.
For the year 2000, Amnesty International estimated that
Saudi Arabia had the second highest rate of legal executions
per capita of population after Singapore, followed next in
order by China, Egypt and the United States (statistics for
African nations were not included). Drug dealing, heresy,
adultery and assault are some of the crimes that can attract
the death sentence in Saudi Arabia.
Erratic Sentencing
According to Amnesty International, two Filipinos— Arnel Beltran
and Roel Janda— suffered the ultimate penalty for what in other
societies might pass as a minor crime. In addition, claimed Amnesty
International, the charges against the two accused were unproved.
'The two were charged with assaulting a shopkeeper and attempted
theft — a charge that was thought to be pretext for their real crime
of belonging to a Christian sect. According to the witness, during
their detention, they were taken to court twice but each time the
alleged victim of assault failed to appear in court. They apparently
were under the impression that their trial was pending until the
other party appeared in court. They had no idea that they had been
sentenced to death. The two were beheaded for whatever their crime
might have been.'
As a guest worker, you may well abhor the idea of
executions. But capital punishment is practised in Saudi
Arabia on a regular basis. Saudis are not the least bit
ashamed of these practices. Quite the reverse. Executions are
ceremonial events held in public and conducted on Fridays,
the holy day in the Islamic week. The populace — local and
alien— is encouraged, or at the very least not discouraged,
from attending. If you happen to stray too close to 'Chop
Square' in your local town (as the execution sites are
nicknamed), you may find yourself pushed to the front of
the crowd. Saudi Arabia believes in the deterrent power of
executions. It likes its guest workers to witness punishment
for crimes committed and thereby encourages them to keep
their minds focused on their work and not on side issues.
106 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
At a local execution, after being pushed to the front of the
crowd in this way, a British reporter once asked a bystander
the reason why people wanted him to stand in the front of
the crowd. "To add to the sinner's punishment," a Saudi
witness to the execution explained, "So the last thing the
sinner sees as he leaves this world is your face: the face of
the infidel."
PAYING BLOOD MONEY
The case of the two British nurses, Lucille McLaughlin
and Deborah Parry was well publicised. These two were
accused of murdering a fellow worker, an Australian nurse,
and faced punishment of 500 lashes and eight years jail
for McLaughlin and execution by beheading for Parry. But
there was an out. The principle of Shariah Law known as
diya allows the victim or the victim's family to accept blood
money in exchange for clemency. The victim's brother,
Frank Gilford, was the accepted spokesperson for the
family of the victim. The case made worldwide news and
the British government got deeply involved in the affair.
After a long period of negotiation, Gilford finally agree to
accept blood money for his sister's death. Subsequently
McLaughlin and Parry were pardoned by the king and
were repatriated to Britain. In all probability, if a couple
of Filipino nurses had been found guilty of the same
crime, the punishments prescribed by the courts would
have been exacted. Like most places in the world, under
the diya system, justice flows to those who can best
afford it!
SECURITY OF SAUDI ARABIA: THE COUNTRY
Since the 1940s, when the commercial oil industry first got
underway, oil for protection has been the essence of the
contract between the US and Saudi Arabia. This arrangement
has endured. As the leader of OPEC, Saudi Arabia keeps
the Western world supplied with oil and influences fellow
members of OPEC to do likewise. In return, the US provides
the promise of military backing to keep the Al Saud regime
in power.
Getting to Know the Saudis 107
This is a marriage of mutual convenience in which, not too
far beneath the surface, the partners are deeply incompatible.
Though the incompatibilities are papered over, occasionally
they come to the surface. Many Americans believe that Saudi
Arabia is a hot-bed of terrorism. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers
involved in the 9- 1 1 attack were Saudi nationals, mostly from
the strongly anti-US Asir region near Yemen.
A Pentagon paper in 2002 was one of many statements
that questioned Saudi Arabia's devotion to America's cause of
waging a war on terror. It stated that '...the Saudis are active
at every level of the terror chain, from planners to financiers,
from cadre to foot soldier, from ideologist to cheerleader'.
The Pentagon paper went on to recommend that the US issue
an ultimatum to Saudi Arabia to stop sponsoring terrorism
or face the seizure of its oilfields and financial assets. Other
hawkish comments from the Pentagon and in conservative
US newspapers described Saudi citizens as 'terrorists'
and recommend Saudi Arabia be bombed 'back to the
stone age'.
108 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
For their part, the clerics and many Saudi citizens, maybe
the majority, sympathise with the Al-Qaeda cause of Osama
bin Laden. Islamic fundamentalists regard both parties as
the partners to an unholy alliance. Members of the Saudi
leadership are considered godless despots who prefer to
party in the West rather than make a pilgrimage to Mecca.
The US is considered the axis of evil. In addition, particular
tribal groups within Saudi Arabia grind various axes against
the Saudi monarchy more deeply rooted than the US-Saudi
detente. Hijazis from areas around the holy cities of Mecca
and Medina, pursue a grudge against the Wahhabi religious
leadership that goes back 250 years.
The dissident movement inside Saudi Arabia is an
embarrassment to the Saudi government and an ongoing
sore point for the US administration. If the regime is too soft
on terrorists, the conservative lobby in the US issues hawkish
threats. If it comes down too hard on terrorists, pressure rises
from its own citizens. The Saudi administration attempts to
plot a middle path.
Finding the Middle Path
In 1992, over 100 Wahhabi clerics sent a 'Memorandum of Advice'
to King Fahd, criticising the monarchy for corruption and allowing
US troops to remain in the country after the first Gulf War King Fahd
responded by dismissing seven of the 1 7 members of the country's
highest clerical body, the Supreme Authority of Senior Clerics, for not
denouncing the memorandum. Two dissident clerics were jailed for
precipitating public protests. The monarchy was later forced to cede
more power to the clerics when these prisoners were released. After
this, the uneasy alliance between clerics and royalty continued.
Outside government, citizens in the US took things into
their own hands. In the US civil courts, in mid-2002, a trillion-
dollar class action was launched on behalf of the victims of
9-11. The action originally named, among the defendants,
three Al Saud princes, including the former intelligence chief
Prince Turki Al Faisal and the defence minister Prince Sultan
bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. The lawsuit was expanded later that
year to involve other parties including three more princes and
the Saudi-American Bank (SAMBA), the second largest bank
Getting to Know the Saudis 109
in the country and partly owned by Citibank. No sooner was
the lawsuit underway when stories circulated that the wife
of the long-serving Saudi ambassador in Washington, Prince
Bandar bin Sultan, had been accused of making donations
to Al Qaeda. She has since claimed her innocence.
For its part, Saudi Arabia countered US claims that it was
soft on terrorism by suggesting that the US could do more
to remove the triggers for terrorists, specifically US support
for Israel's suppression of the Palestinians.
In May 2003, after the car-bomb attacks on expatriate
compounds in Saudi Arabia, the monarchy once again tried
to shift the balance of power in its favour while placating
the demands of the United States to crack down on terrorist
sympathisers. According to reports on BBC, 'more than 1 ,700
clerics' had been relieved of their duties or forced to undergo
're-education'. In addition, three clerics were arrested over
alleged links to terrorists. Political commentators interpreted
this move as a purge of militants within the kingdom who
might have posed a threat to the existing political order.
Memo from One Head of State to Another
In 2009, just after President Obama came to power in the US, Saudi's
ambassador in the US, Prince Turki al Faisal, wrote in The Financial
Times that outgoing president, George Bush, had left a "sickening
legacy" in the Middle East. In a subsequent phone call to King
Abdullah, Obama stressed the importance of strong ties between the
US and Saudi Arabia. However as Prince Turki observed, relations
between the two countries would likely remain strained unless the US
"drastically revised its policies vis-a-vis Israel and Palestine."/
A new generation of almost unemployable Saudi youth
poised to enter the labour market poses an additional
potential terrorist threat for which there is no obvious solution
in the short term. To some, this pool of bored and unhappy
young people on the loose appears to be a pool of ready-made
recruits for the next generation of terrorists.
Under such tensions, from time to time, commentators
speculate whether a revolution could occur in Saudi Arabia
similar to the Iranian revolution of 1979 to unseat the Saudi
110 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
monarchy and rid the country not only of Western influence,
but also its Western workforce.
It seems unlikely.
So far, Saudi Arabia has held together politically, despite
the tensions and occasional outbreaks of violence. The Royal
Family in Saudi Arabia seems far more secure than was the
Shah in Iran. The sheer size of the Royal Family — thousands
of major and minor Royals spread all over the country and
among all levels of society— is, at the same time, a strength
and a weakness. At least five different power groups have
been identified as operating within the family. Though its
size, numbering thousands, makes the family difficult to act
cohesively, these thousands of family members do share a
common interest in staying in power. The interdependency
of the Royal Family and the Ulema is another important
factor. In Iran, the religious movement was the natural enemy
of the political leadership. In Saudi Arabia, the Ulema and
the Royal Family share an alliance going back over at least
three centuries.
Since the loyalty of armies can never be guaranteed, the
Saudi Royal Family has tried to protect its power base by
establishing an administrative structure to minimise the
chances of a coup d'etat. Protecting the Royal family are
the National Guard composed of Bedouins thought to be the
staunchest supporters of Saudi royalty. In addition, reporting
to the Interior Ministry are the Public Security Police (which
includes the mubahith or secret police and the regular police)
and the Special Security force (the equivalent of the US
SWAT team).
In any case, most analysts believe if a revolution were to
break out in Saudi Arabia, the US would be unlikely to stay
out of the contest and allow Saudi oil to fall into uncertain
hands. The alliance between the US and the House of Saud
not only protects the Saudi regime against external threats,
but also against its own dissidents.
SOTIING IN
'I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides
and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of
all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as
possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.'
-Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
112 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
EXPECTATIONS
For some, flying to the Middle East for the first time, the
standard two-year contract duration may seem like a long
time to spend in what is generally portrayed as a tough
assignment in a tough location. For others, the prospect
of life in Saudi Arabia, with no income tax, few financial
responsibilities, a house provided and lots of paid holidays,
may lessen the perception of Saudi Arabia as a hardship
posting. For most guest workers, the assignment works out.
Many find, after their arrival, that the advertised hardships
of Saudi Arabia have been greatly exaggerated— that Saudi
Arabia is, in fact, an easy number. In actuality for some,
particularly those with high status jobs, working in Saudi
Arabia is a career highlight, with luxurious living and working
conditions. But for the few whose assignment, for some
reason, goes off the rails, Saudi Arabia can make life tough
for its guest workers.
En route to Saudi Arabia, you will probably have formed
some mental image of what lies ahead. Maybe friends, who
have worked in Saudi Arabia, will have recounted many a
lurid tale, suitably embellished to increase your anxieties.
Your mind may be gripped with ill-defined fears, particularly if
you are a woman. In women's circles, this place has definitely
acquired a reputation as a male-dominated society where
women are afforded little respect and few privileges. To the
guest worker visiting the kingdom for the first time, Saudi
Settling In 113
Arabia may be just a little bit scary. But the chances are, your
fears will prove unfounded.
VISAS AND DOCUMENTATION
The only tourist visas issued into Saudi Arabia are for approved
tour groups following organised itineraries and for Muslim
pilgrims intending to discharge their hajj obligations. Other than
that, unless they are diplomats, travellers to Saudi Arabia are
workers or dependants of workers who must be sponsored by a
company or a Saudi citizen living inside the country. Providing
that passports are valid for at least six months, visitors will then
be issued visas after presentation of the correct paperwork
prepared by their employers. Family members are entitled
to visit Saudi Arabia under similar arrangements. Their visa
applications will also be processed by the sponsoring company.
Visas are obtained through Saudi embassies or approved travel
agents in the passport holder's country of origin.
Getting a Visa
Precise information to be submitted to support a visa
application may be obtained from the Saudi embassy website at
http://www.saudiembassy.net/Travel/VisaReq-Employment.asp.
Nine types of visa relating to employment or visiting rights are
listed on the website. After an extensive paper trail detailed on this
website, issuing time for visas is of the order of a week. For frequent
business visitors from source countries that host an Arab or Saudi
Arabian Chamber of Commerce, you can ask to be admitted to a
VIP list so that your visa application will be fast tracked.
On departing the country, say for R&R or a business
trip, visitors must obtain an exit permit arranged by their
employer prior to leaving and an exit/re-entry permit if
they are returning to the kingdom after their sojourn away.
Employees are not normally obliged to attend immigration
offices either within or outside Saudi Arabia for this process.
As each entry and re-entry visa requires an entire page,
people making trips in and out of the kingdom will consume
their passport pages at an impressive rate. Those who expect
114 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
to travel frequently in and out of the kingdom should consider
acquiring passports with more than the standard number of
pages (most countries offer this option).
Visits to Saudi Arabia by women are subject to additional
rules. To comply with local requirements that women be
accompanied wherever they go in Saudi Arabia, sponsors
must meet females of dependants on entry into the country
otherwise they may be held at airports for long periods, possibly
indefinitely. On the return journey, married women and children
need their husband's permission to leave the country.
The Paper Mill
Saudi Arabia has a large bureaucracy that has a commensurate
appetite for paperwork. Once inside Saudi Arabia, you cannot be
sure what documents will be needed, only that you're likely to
need plenty of them! Experienced Saudi hands assemble document
packs, including many passport size photographs of each member
of the family, photocopies of ID, copies of most other important
documents in your CV— birth certificate, marriage certificate,
'no objection' letters and employment contracts— health cards,
certificates of academic qualifications preferably all attested to
by your country's own embassy in Saudi Arabia.
Under Saudi law, the employer is obliged to hold its
employees' passports while employees are in the kingdom.
This rule can have a real downside if you are unfortunate
enough to work for an unscrupulous employer. Without a
passport, in the event of a dispute between employer and
employee, there is no way for a disgruntled employee to
get out of the country. Situations in which the employee
is completely at the mercy of the employer have led to
occasional sad stories of employee abuse.
No one who has an Israeli visa stamp in their passport
can get a visa for Saudi Arabia. Anyone who wants to visit
both Israel and Saudi Arabia needs to get two passports,
or make an arrangement with the Israelis for a removable
visa. An extreme case of anti-Jewish sentiment in the
authors' experience was the censoring, by an over zealous
censor, of the word 'juice' from cans of fruit juice in the
local commissary. Presumably this word was too close,
Settling In 115
phonetically, to the collective noun for the Jewish race. On
each can, this word was blacked out by the Saudi censor's
ubiquitous accessory— the black marker pen.
In a parallel story, a past Australian ambassador to Saudi
Arabia related the story of an Australian businessman
who did a little jail time on his first visit to the country
after a misunderstanding with an immigration official.
The Australian businessman, it seems, had a slight speech
impediment. When the immigration official asked what was
the businessman's country of origin, he evidently thought
he heard the reply 'Israel' instead of Australia'. Handcuffs
were duly installed and the offender was whisked off to jail
without so much as an opportunity provided for the offender
to present his passport.
Iqama
Expats travelling to Saudi Arabia to work will also need their
employer's help in getting an "Iqama" — or ID card, which is
a tiny green booklet carried on the person verifying that the
holder has legal right to be in Saudi Arabia. Since by law the
passport must be held by the guest worker's employer, the
Iqama is the principal ID document a guest worker must keep
on their person while in Saudi Arabia. Without an Iqama, you
will be unable to open a bank account, lease or buy a car, lease
rental accommodation or transact other normal day-to-day
activities. You may also be harassed in the event of police
checks. In theory, your employer should be taking the initiative
in organising the Iqama. However since the penalties for failure
to produce an Iqama on request lie with the employee, it
pays guest workers to ensure that the Iqama is a) issued, and
b) re-issued before 45 days from date of expiry.
PRE- ARRIVAL CHECKS
The climate of Saudi Arabia, being hot and dry, is intrinsically
bug-resistant. No injections are stipulated by the government
as a condition for entry. Some visitors obtain a meningitis
vaccination. Hepatitis A shots are recommended by many
doctors. Those visiting the coastal plains of south-west
Saudi Arabia— well away from most normal tour of duty
116 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
areas— might be advised to take anti-malaria precautions.
Those travelling near Mecca in the pilgrim season may
consider taking precautions against Meningicoccal disease or
meningitis that may be brought into the country by pilgrims
from tropical Muslim countries.
Health
Saudi Arabia spends about 5 per cent of its gross domestic
product (GDP) on health care— about one-third the rate of
the United States and half that of the OECD (Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries.
Medical care is provided to Saudi citizens free of charge.
Western health care workers report that Saudis tend to be on
the opposite end of the health care scale to hypochondriacs.
Saudis don't visit doctors unless they feel seriously unwell,
thus reducing the strain on the health care system. Given
the strength of their religious beliefs, Saudis probably aren't
quite as obsessed as the typical Westerner with an ambition
to prolong life as long as possible. The average lifespan of
men is a modest 74 years and of women, 78 years.
Health care in Saudi Arabia is a curious mixture of
rudimentary primary medical care and a few lavishly
equipped Western-style hospitals. The healthcare system
is largely staffed by expatriates, though by 2001, Saudi
employment in the health system had risen to 1 8 per cent.
Guest workers may or may not have to pay for health
costs depending on their employment conditions. Many large
projects employ their own doctors, with health care included
in employment packages. Despite the high standard of their
hospitals, primary medical care is still fairly basic. If health
care is not provided in the employment package, selection of
one's health care provider is important. From an expatriate
point of view, some excellent hospitals are available— along
with some that are not so good.
ACCOMMODATION
As a guest worker in the country, how you live will depend on
who you are, what you have come to do and the organisation
you are working for. If you are a Western businessperson
Settling In 117
heading a major corporation, you will enjoy the same
luxury appointments in Saudi Arabia that you have come to
expect wherever you travel. If you are working for a branch
of a large company, you will probably be given comfortable
accommodation, not quite up to luxury class. If you have
come to work for a Saudi company, the likely standard of your
accommodation is harder to predict. Large Saudi companies
house their employees in all standards of accommodation,
from the opulent to the very ordinary. At the other end of
the employment scale, if you are an Indian houseboy in
a luxury house, you would normally have a small room,
though accommodation in stairwells, cupboards and shipping
containers in the back garden have also been reported. Four
or five labourers from Pakistan and Yemen might typically
share a room someplace and sleep on the floor.
As a Western expat worker, the most common style of
accommodation in Saudi Arabia is the 'compound', which
is essentially an expatriate enclave kept fairly separate from
the Saudi Arabian mainstream community. The model for
this society evolved in the first days of Saudi Arabia's now
well-established imported labour programme. Aramco was
established in 1948 to develop Saudi Arabia's first major oil
strike at a favourable geological formation called the Dhahran
Dome near the eastern seaboard. The area was arid and
featureless. One small trading post, the now bustling town of Al
Children hitch a ride on a donkey cart in an Al Khobar street.
118 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Khobar, nestled nearby on the shores of the Persian Gulf. The
nearest inland settlement was an oasis at Hofuf, about 1 50 km
(90 miles) to the south. The site of the future oil wells and
extraction facilities was a wide expanse of empty land. Ready-
made accommodation for Western visitors was non-existent.
To develop this great new oilfield, specialist expatriate
workers to the Middle East, mainly US citizens, were imported
to drill the wells, lay pipelines and build facilities needed to
pump the oil into tankers pulling into Persian Gulf ports. To
meet the need of this imported workforce for Western-style
accommodation, the oil company created a typical American
suburb amongst the wastes of the Dhahran desert, importing
everything they required from kit homes to the grass for
their sidewalks. They set up shopping facilities, banking,
schools, hospitals, sports facilities and a radio station. The
suburb, somewhat unimaginatively christened 'The Aramco
Compound', was built and peopled by Americans who acted
American, spoke American and might have been living in
downtown Burbank.
As the nation's oil revenues rolled in and were expended
on development projects, replicas of this kit-form city
were built elsewhere. At various large projects around
the country, a number of Western-style towns have been
constructed, initially inhabited by construction personnel,
and later by Saudis. If you have come to Saudi Arabia to work
on a construction site or to work in an existing industrial city,
you have an excellent chance of living in a 'compound' that
resembles the suburb of a dusty desert town, perhaps with neat
streets, gardens and lawns irrigated by desalinated seawater.
With increased security concerns in recent times, some
compounds are now fortified settlements and are surrounded
by walls and a cleared security area with high razor-wire fences
patrolled by the Saudi Military. Residents of compounds tend
to conduct most of their activities inside the compound's
boundaries. Likewise most Saudis tend to stay outside. Within
the compound, you can probably live a similar life in Saudi
Arabia to the one you left in your country of origin.
The standard of accommodation offered in compounds
could be a single room 'dog-box', a trailer home imported
Settling In 119
fully assembled or a luxury permanent home in an established
suburb. Suburbs and compounds of large cities are generally
well-equipped with sporting facilities, community centres,
movie theatres and shops. Some visitors may feel right at
home in these facilities. Others may find that living in the
company-provided accommodation of Saudi Arabia superior
to anything they have experienced back home in their
countries of origin! A few might feel that compound life is
artificial and yearn to pitch a tent in the desert.
If you are working in a city, instead of a compound you
may live in an apartment or perhaps in a hotel. Apartments
and hotels in Saudi Arabia are much the same as Western-
style apartments and hotels anywhere else. This is no run-
down country where you have to visit the well to pump
water. Saudi Arabia has a developed infrastructure. Almost
everywhere you will find the full suite of services — electricity,
running water, sewerage and motor car access.
Those not living in company-supplied accommodation
can consult estate agents dealing with rental property.
Rental leases can run either for an indefinite period or
a specified period. Short-term and long-term leases are
available. Rental accommodation is customarily provided
with basic furnishings. The cost of rental accommodation,
if required, varies greatly with location. The most expensive
real estate in Saudi Arabia is in Mecca during the pilgrim
season. As an expat, you are unlikely to live in Mecca unless
you work for a large building contracting company with a
contract to construct a high-rise building to service Mecca's
construction boom. Jeddah, Riyadh and Al Khobar are more
likely destinations. A website for those who wish to enquire
about rental apartments and homes is:
http://www.saudiarabia.alloexpat.com/real_estate_
saudi_arabia/agen t_developers
You may also wish to contact them for more information at
email: info@asinah.org.
FACILITIES FOR THE HANDICAPPED
By the standards of Asia, large cities in Saudi Arabia are
reasonably user-friendly for the handicapped. Good hotels
120 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
and public buildings tend to have reasonable access to ramps.
But conditions of streets and sidewalks (if any exist) may
be hazardous hazardous for the handicapped, particularly
in the smaller towns.
MONEY AND BANKING
The monetary unit of Saudi Arabia is the Saudi Riyal (SAR),
which since May 2008 has been pegged to the US dollar at the
rate of SAR 3.76 to the dollar. The highest denomination note
is SAR 500 and the smallest SAR 1 . Other notes of various
denominations are in circulation down to the smallest value
note of one riyal. The minor unit is the halalah which, at
100 to the riyal, is of nuisance value only.
Changing travellers cheques is generally more difficult
in Saudi Arabia than most places. Many banks and money
changers simply won't accept travellers cheques. Others
will exchange only the particular issue of travellers cheques
they deal in themselves. Also, unlike most places, you will
need to present your original purchase receipt when cashing
your travellers cheques.
US dollar bank notes, everyone's favourite currency, are
easy to exchange. Whatever you are changing, you are likely
to get a better rate of exchange from money changers than
from banks.
Cash withdrawn at the local Automatic Teller Machine
(ATM) linked to a home-based bank account is probably
the easiest way to generate cash in the kingdom. Two
advantages of ATMs, apart from convenience, is that they
don't discriminate against females or close down for
prayer calls. Credit cards are also widely accepted. Whatever
method you select to meet your day-to-day expenses,
people working in Saudi Arabia, living in free company
housing, sending their kids to free school generally enjoy a
highly subsidised lifestyle and don't need much more than
petty cash when in Saudi Arabia.
Except for restrictions on females, guest workers can
open accounts with Saudi banks. But generally there is
no need to do so. One of the authors did open a cheque
account with a local bank while in Saudi Arabia, and closed
Settling In 121
it shortly afterwards. The hassles of operating the bank
account were hardly worth the effort for little advantage. Most
expatriate workers get their pay cheques credited directly
into the banks in their own countries or elsewhere. There are
no restrictions about sending currency out of Saudi
Arabia. If you do want to enquire about Saudi banks,
there are many available that may or may not have links
to your offshore bank. A complete list of all the banks
in the country, along with contact details, is available
from the website:
http://www.portalino.it/banks/_sa.htm
Local Banking Ethics
The Saudi Arabian banking system isn't comfortable with
some of the ethics of modern commerce. The Qur'an
contains provisions precluding money usury, which is
alternatively defined as 'interest' or 'exorbitant interest'.
Whether exorbitant or not, Wahhabis aren't keen on the
notion of interest at all. By the same token, the realities of
the commercial world are recognised. Since interest is the
keystone of the banking system, this ideological difficulty has
rather limited the opportunities for Saudi banks.
To overcome the problem, Saudi Arabia, in line with other
Middle East countries, has two banking systems — Islamic
and Western. Islamic banking invests only in companies
that provide acceptable goods and services, develop Islamic
products and conform to Shariah Law. Companies that
provide social welfare services are favoured. Companies
that deal in tobacco and alcohol are precluded. Some
major international banks such as Cititbank and Hongkong
Shanghai Banking Corporation have Islamic banking divisions
operating in Saudi Arabia.
Trading Hours
Traditionally Saudi Arabia has worked siesta hours.
Commercial hours for retailing are customarily from
8:00 am-1 :00 pm, then 4:00 pm-8:00 pm (some variations
may occur). Government offices may skip the afternoon shift
and may only be open from 7:00 am-1 :00 pm. Some may
122 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
stay open till 2:30 pm. These trading hours were established
to suit the rigorous climate of the country. With the advent
of air-conditioning, the climate is less relevant than it once
was — at least inside the offices and malls. Many offices now
work more normal business hours — 9:00 am-5:00 pm, or
something similar. These hours apply most of the year except
Ramadan, when retail businesses are extensively shut during
daylight hours, but are normally open in the evening.
Since Friday is the religious day, the working week is
from Saturday to Wednesday. Weekends are on Thursday
and Friday. Businesses and government offices are normally
closed and most shops are normally opened during weekend
trading hours.
As well as their regular opening and closing times, shops
will also close three or four times a day for prayers. The
practice of closing down for prayers can seem remarkably
inconvenient to the Western shopper. Experienced
shoppers time their shopping expeditions to fit in with
prayer timetables. The most efficient shopping expedition
is one in which prayer time is spent travelling either to or
from shops. Prayer times vary according to a sliding scale
depending on the times for dawn, dusk and the phases of
the moon. Lists of prayer times obtainable from places like
bookstores are worth getting as an aid to scheduling appoints
and shopping expeditions. Prayer times are also provided in
daily newspapers.
APPLIANCES
Electricity supply is reliable and power cuts are uncommon.
Electric power is supplied principally at North American
voltage and frequency— 110 volts and 60 Hertz. But in many
offices and hotels and some residential homes, a 220v/50Hz
outlet is available. Voltage regulators are recommended to
protect appliances from supply fluctuations. Sockets and
plugs are not standardised and vary between the British,
US and European types. Those travelling in Saudi Arabia are
advised to take a transformer to obtain the correct voltage for
their appliances, and to carry a plentiful supply of adaptors
to fit the various plug types.
Settling In 123
HELP AROUND THE HOME
Saudis of quite modest means engage domestic
servants from East Asian and sub-continent countries.
Guest workers in upper socio-economic groups may
wish to do the same. Unless it is provided in the
employment package, expatriates who wish to employ
domestic help will probably enter into an informal
arrangement with someone already in the kingdom working
for someone else. Plenty of Third Country employees are
on the lookout for moonlighting jobs to supplement their
incomes. More permanent arrangements are unlikely to
be convenient since the visas for domestic employees bind
employees to specific employers and no one else. Saudi
Arabia expects its guest workforce to visit the kingdom for
the specific purpose of undertaking an employment contract
for a specific employer for a specific contract period at the
end of which they are expected to leave.
TRAVEL BY CAR
Visitors with a valid driver's licence from most countries, or
an international driver's licenses, are allowed to drive in the
kingdom for up to three months. After that, foreign licences
can be converted to Saudi licences without undergoing a local
driving test— but with the usual small mountain of paperwork
required in Saudi Arabia for such transactions — including
a translation of the licence into Arabic, a letter from your
employer, an application form, and a copy of your Iqama.
Good quality highways connect major cities. Travelling
long distances in quick time is comfortable provided your
car has a good air-conditioner. Petrol is cheap. Inside towns
and cities, the customary traffic snarls may sometimes occur
as they do anywhere. But between cities, traffic flows freely.
Compared to most countries, the traffic on roads is light. In
2005, the rate of car ownership was about 420 cars per head
of population— similar to western countries. A point to be
noted is that over half the adult indigenous adult population
—Saudi women— are not permitted to drive. But that hasn't
prevented Saudi women from owning cars. According to
figures supplied by ARAMCO, 75,522 women owned 1 20,334
124 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
vehicles by the end of 2006 — all, so far as is known, driven
by male chauffeurs.
That's the good news about driving. The bad news is that
the nation's highways and byways are downright dangerous
places to be. Those who hold that the female of the species is
the more dangerous one on the roads than the male will find
little support for their case from the road accident statistics of
Saudi Arabia. That Saudi roads are perilous places is evident
merely by driving through the countryside. The nation's
highways are littered with wrecked cars that are merely
dragged to the side of the road and abandoned as a silent
testimony to the hazards of driving on the nation's roads.
The Perils of Motoring
Based on fatalities per head of population, a World Bank report in
the year 2000 found that Saudi Arabia, along with Malaysia, Thailand
and South Africa, were the most dangerous countries in which to
drive. Saudi Arabia fared even worse in comparison when this was
measured in fatalities per vehicle.Saudi Arabia has road accidents
at about three times the rate of Western countries like the USA and
Britain. Various studies have also been conducted to determine the
cause of Saudi Arabia's high accident rate. According one of many
reports on the subject— an epidemiology of road traffic accidents
in the Al-Ahssaa Governorate: 'Very high speed was responsible for
about 70 per cent of accidents'. (Alcohol can certainly be ruled out
as a principal cause of accidents.)
Settling In 125
Driving standards in Saudi Arabia are on a par with the
worst anywhere. In the opinion of the authors and absolutely
unsupported by any research that we know of, there is one
particular element of Arab culture that seems to us to make
driving hazardous. Science has shown that about 40 per cent
of the evaporative losses from a human body labouring under
a hot sun are through the top of the head. Arabs developed
the appropriate headgear to deal with this problem. For camel
driving across the sunny deserts of Saudi Arabia, the gutra
is no doubt ideally suited to the job of providing shade and
preserving bodily fluids. But this item of national apparel is
not equally suited to all forms of locomotion. One aspect of
gufra-wearing renders it particularly unsuited for driving cars.
The fall of the material on both sides of the face obscures
peripheral vision. Saudi drivers seem particularly bad at
seeing other cars coming at them from the side.
In addition, a popular view among expats is that Saudi
drivers bring to the roads their carefree fatalistic attitude that
events on the road, and in life in general, are in the hands of
a higher authority than themselves. This being the case, they
might argue, what difference does it make to speed around
blind corners and over crests on the wrong side of the road?
What is going to happen is going to happen.
Whatever the cause of their bad driving, Saudi Arabia is a
country where you should, above all things, drive defensively.
126 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
When you are at the wheel, assume that the nation's roads
are likely to be peopled by semi-blind maniacs travelling
towards you at high speed and not necessarily on their side of
the road. Never suppose that people will stop at intersections
or stop at red lights. In cities, always expect that cars may
pop out in front of you from streetside parking spots. And
remember that whatever the circumstances of an accident,
under Shariah Law, if you hit a car driven by a Saudi, you
will most likely be blamed, however blameless you consider
yourself to be.
Handling Road Accidents
Assuming you are tolerant of religion, not mounting a
crusade to topple the government and refraining from
selling alcoholic drinks to the local population, the most
common legal problem you are likely to encounter in Saudi
Arabia is a road accident. That said, many expats do drive
in Saudi Arabia and emerge from the experience unscathed.
But if an accident occurs and you are involved, the Saudi
authorities will dispense blame for the accident in a fairly
ad hoc manner across whoever happens to be at the scene
of the crime. Rough justice can be administered, with the
risk that the innocent may be enmeshed in the outcome
along with the guilty.
Underlying Saudi law is the concept of qisas, or retribution.
Under this code, when a crime occurs, a similar level of
suffering is meant to be inflicted on the perpetrator of the
crime as has been inflicted on the victim. Saudi law may take
the Biblical maxim of 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'
quite literally. For example, in 2000, an Egyptian expatriate
worker had his eye surgically removed after he threw acid in
the face of another man, causing his victim to lose an eye.
As an alternative or an addition to punishment, the Shariah
Law of diya also allows the concept of blood money. As well as
being punished by the state, the perpetrator of a road accident
is expected to compensate the victim, or if the victim has
been killed in the accident, the victim's family. Saudi courts
will prescribe the payment of blood money based not so
much on the injuries inflicted but on the status of the victim
Settling In 1
and the ability of the perpetrator to pay. (The West, which
has a very poor record for compensating victims of crime,
might take note of this!)
Getting Third Party Insurance
(And Staying Out of Jail)
Blame for road accidents may be apportioned to innocent victims
of road accidents on the grounds that if they hadn't been at the
scene of the accident, nothing would have happened. Expats can
expect to fare worse in these situations than Saudis for whom a
lesser burden for proof of innocence is required.
Any expat driving in Saudi Arabia must ensure they have
comprehensive insurance cover, and should carry a full set
of insurance and personal travel documents whenever they
undertake a journey on Saudi roads. In recent years, compulsory
third-party insurance has been introduced in line with what
is practiced in most countries. Since 2002, both resident and
non-resident drivers in transit are required to apply for rukhsa —
equivalent to third-party insurance in other countries— to protect
drivers against personal injury claims from other drivers. Rukhsa
insurance covers third party rights to diya—or blood money
claims for relatives of road victims. A statement from Allied
Company for Co-operative Insurance and Reinsurance provided
these words by way of explaining the principle of rukhsa:
'Rukhsa covers the blood money of a person killed. In the
absence of this cover, the erring driver would remain in police
custody until the blood money, a bond or a guarantee from his
sponsor was furnished.'
There are a couple of common sense rules about road
accidents. In the first place, if this is someone else's road
accident— stay out of it. Saudi Arabia is not the place to
discharge the role of good and dutiful citizen. If you come
across a road accident, and feel a compulsion to become
involved, bear in mind that when the authorities arrive, the
first thing they are likely to do is throw a cordon around
the scene of the crime. Anyone inside the cordon will be
considered involved. The damaged cars will be dragged to
128 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
the side of the road, where they may stay for a very long time
and perpetrators, victims and bystanders at the scene of the
accident are all likely to be taken away by the authorities for
processing. Justice can operate very rapidly and inaccurately.
Or the enquiry may be prolonged. Perfectly innocent
bystanders might have to spend weeks in jail while enquiries
are conducted regarding their degree of involvement. Once
released, if the case is not concluded, witnesses might have
to stay in the kingdom for months, denied exit permits
while cases drag on. Only those with a hyper-acute sense of
public duty are going to get involved in someone else's road
accident in this country.
If this is your own accident, things are decidedly trickier. It
is easy enough to state that you should avoid an accident. But
the nature of accidents is that they happen. One of the risks
of driving in Saudi Arabia is to be involved in an accident in
which, in your own country, you would have been considered
entirely blameless. Various judges have enunciated to guest
worker defendants of traffic charges the principle of Saudi law
on this matter— the accident must be your fault, since if you
had not been there, the accident would not have happened.
One of the authors has personal experience witnessing an
accident at an intersection where the Saudi driver went
through a red light and collided with a car— driven by an
expat— executing a left-hand turn. The expat was held guilty
on the grounds that the light showing on the street he was
turning into was red at the time of the accident. Besides, if
he hadn't been there, he wouldn't have been hit. That sort of
logic is hard to beat in court.
As a last word on this subject, if you do happen to end
up in jail for some reason, make sure someone knows you
are there. Saudi Arabia is a free enterprise economy. Jails in
Saudi Arabia provide only the minimum of accommodation
services. Luxury items like food, water and toilet paper are
meant to be provided by friends or family of the detained.
TAXIS
There are two types of taxis in Saudi Arabia— coded by
colour — white taxis (limousines) and yellow taxis (ordinary
Settling In 129
taxis). In most cases, limousines, which also co-ordinate with
hotels, are to be preferred should the choice be available.
Fares are generally reasonable. As an additional caution,
unaccompanied women are advised against taking a yellow
taxi due to the problems that might ensue from being
caught by the religious police with a strange man in an
enclosed space.
The habits of Saudi taxi drivers are similar to the habits
of taxi drivers worldwide. They drive fast and they have a
reputation, whether earned or not, for sharp practice. The
standard of taxi-driving in Saudi Arabia is probably no better
or no worse than anywhere else. In a country where the
accident rate is amongst the highest in the world, you are
probably safer in a taxi than with most Saudi drivers.
In taking a taxi, as in all aspects of life in Saudi Arabia,
religion may influence the experience. Taxi drivers are
theoretically supposed to stop whatever they are doing when
prayer time is announced. (Airline pilots seem to be exempt
from this requirement.) In practice, many taxi drivers may
pull over during the journey and conduct their prayers at the
side of a road or even in a mosque. The polite thing for you
to do in this situation is to wait. Another option is to catch a
bus, should you be able to find one heading in your intended
direction. Clerics appear to have granted bus drivers a general
exemption from the obligation to pray— at least while in
the act of driving the bus.
POSTAL
That Saudi Arabian towns generally lack street names and
house numbers has restricted the Saudi Arabian postal
delivery to sending mail to private mail boxes of which the
country has about 700,000. Normal practice is to use a post
office box number. In recent times, Saudi Post has embarked
on a programme to overcome the country's absence of a
street addressing system. Initially, streets will be coded
by number. Ultimately, assisted by GPS technology, each
individual building will be recorded on a database using a
13-digit code, which becomes the address of the building. If
successful, this will enable person-to-person mail delivery,
130 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
as practiced in other countries. This programme started in
Riyadh in 2006 and is expanding into other cities.
TELEVISION
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Information extensively
scrutinises media entering the country for religious purity
and political correctness. Detailed interpretation of the
Qur'an during the 1970s determined that screening a film
for public viewing in a cinema was against the rules, but
broadcasting the same films into people's homes on TV
was permissible. In reaching this ruling, the Saudis may
have objected less to the content of the films than to the
cinema itself. Neither the clerics nor the authorities liked
the idea of a crowd of strangers gathering in a dark place
where conspiracies could be hatched, lewd acts could be
performed and bombs could be exploded. This rule was
cautiously relaxed in 2005. The cinema is located at Riyadh
Hotel and shows foreign cartoons dubbed in Arabic. The
audience is excluively women and children and sidesteps
religious demands for gender segregation.
Though cinemas are restricted, popular Westerns and other
films are screened on TV. Government censors hack and slash
content at will. Politically offensive material, such as content
interpreted as pro-Israel or anti-Muslim, may be taken out.
Large gaps in films when the screen goes blank (as distinct from
cutting and splicing) may appear without notice, indicating that
material showing physical contact between male and female
has been removed. Since the dialogue also goes missing in the
sequences, this can render the story line hard to follow.
A Word from the Chief Censor
The level of censorship can be quite informal and unpredictable
and can be subject to decisions at the highest level. In one
incident, at 10:00 pm one night, King Fahd telephoned the Saudi
Minister of Information, Mr Ali Al Shaer, to complain about an Indian
film that was being screened. The call came through on a party line
and was heard by a Lebanese newspaper editor, who reported it
to the wider community. "I don't care if you are halfway through
the film," the King is alleged to have said, "stop it and put on an
American film instead."
Settling In 131
If you are curious to find out what Saudi television is about
and you are a non-Arabic speaker, Channel 2 broadcasts
exclusively in English, except for a French-language newscast
every night at 8:00 pm. Those in the Eastern Province can
also receive Aramco's TV station, Channel 3. It tends to be
more up-to-date than Channel, 2 and provides a film service
in English.
State-owned and censored Saudi TV has come under intense
competition in recent times from TV broadcasts by more liberal
neighbours. Arab TV newscasting really made a hit with the
world during the second Gulf War. Likewise, Al Jazeera, the
Qatar-based news channel, presented a much more balanced
view of the war than the likes of CNN. Al Jazeera had more
correspondents on the ground in Iraq during the conflict and
presented a ground-based view of the fighting. During this
time, Al Jazeera claimed 35 million viewers and its reports
made from within Iraq were carried by TV stations around
the world. (According to documents subsequently released,
George Bush proposed to bomb Al Jazeera in Qatar for
presenting what he considered an 'anti-American' view of his
war in Iraq. Allegedly, he was talked out of taking this action
by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.)
A new station, Dubai-based Al-Arabiya, is broadcast on
Jordan and Saudi state-owned TV and reaches a potential
audience of 13 million, in addition to its satellite audience.
Abu Dhabi TV is also well established and is second to
Al Jazeera in popularity. Satellite TV is now widely available,
allowing guest workers to stay in touch with developments
back home and elsewhere. Theoretically, satellite TV is illegal
in Saudi Arabia. The profusion of satellite dishes on roof
tops and the walls of buildings bears testament that this
provision is not widely enforced. The website AiwaGulf.com
at http://www.aiwagulf.com/ent/tv/, lists 16 channels that
are favourites around the world like American sports, CNN,
BBC and Discovery.
Like most of the developed world, watching TV is a
favourite pastime. To maintain cultural, political and religious
purity, every television set sold in Saudi Arabia has an
encoded blocker which blocks incoming satellite TV signals.
132 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
The highest TV viewing period is during Ramadan, when
Arab TV stations launch their new programmes. This is also
the busiest period for TV technicians hired by television set
owners to unblock the blockers so that viewers can access
racy Egyptian and Lebanese dramas the censors would prefer
them not to watch.
In addition to TV, various radio stations broadcast a wide
content in various languages. Radio AFRD, the US military
station, The Voice of the Desert— in 1 950 one of the first radio
stations in the world to broadcast in FM— pioneered the
idea of completely ignoring the culture of the host nation.
To sooth its troops, AFRD played only a format of Western
music. Radio Aramco, specialising in American country and
western music like a broadcaster in backwoods Virginia, did
likewise. These days, Saudi Arabia has 43 AM and 31 FM, as
well as two short-wave radio stations.
SHOPPING
Shopping is a major social activity for Saudis, particularly
women, who otherwise tend to be housebound. Shopping
in Saudi Arabia can be like shopping anywhere, or it can
IT'S THE LAW MKUhlG. WOMEN MUST
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134 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
have its own distinctive flavour. Like the rest of the world,
Saudi Arabia offers a choice of shopping malls, shopping
plazas with Western-style supermarkets filled with familiar
brand names.
In Jeddah, the Jamjoom Commercial Centre, just off the
corniche, is a distinctive blue glass and chrome complex.
In Riyadh, the Al-Akariyya Mall is well known for its high
fashion and wide range of European merchandise. Shopping
centre prices are mostly fixed, though a spot of bargaining
can sometimes yield results. Merchandise on sale is not quite
unlimited. The normal Saudi standards of modesty apply
in malls as elsewhere. Shops in the kingdom do not stock
the chic merchandise that can be seen in the neighbouring
countries like the UAE or Qatar.
The country has also retained its souqs— markets of street
stalls found in every large town where gold, fabrics, wall
hangings, jewellery, brass coffee pots and bric-a-brac are on
sale, and the aroma of incense and spices hangs in the air.
Gold in the form of coins, small bullion bars, jewellery and
ornaments is widely traded in the country.
An expatriate man accompanies his wife and mother as they go shopping
in the souq.
Settling In 135
Riyadh's camel market is one of the largest in the world and is said to sell
about 100 camels every day.
At the souq, the price of almost anything is negotiable to a
point known only to the vendor. If you have the patience, you
can haggle down to rock bottom prices, but the process takes
time and can be hard work under the pitiless Arabian sun.
Serious bargaining requires certain rituals to be conducted,
including walking out on your vendor's 'last price' at least
a couple of times.
Feminine hygiene products do not sell well in supermarkets.
Saudi women are likely to be too embarrassed to take
such items to the (male) checkout 'chick'. Instead, Saudi
women source their personal hygiene needs at the
souqs specialising in these products and staffed by other
women. In the Kingdom Shopping Centre in Riyadh, an
exclusive floor into which men may not venture is provided
for 'Ladies Only'.
If you happen to be in the market to buy a camel, the
world's largest (and allegedly smelliest) camel market is
situated on the outskirts of Riyadh, about 30 km (1 8.6 miles)
from the city centre.
FOOD RND
eNTCRTRINING
'Saudi Arabia's food is a reflection of the country's history
and its people's customs, religion and ways of life.'
— Ni'Mah Isma'il Nawwab, The Culinary Kingdom
Food and Entertaining 137
TRADITIONAL FARE
Traditional Saudi food derives from ingredients that were
available in historical times. Milk products, including yoghurt
and cheese from goats, sheep and camels were animal-based
staples. Dates, rice and millet were vegetable-based staples.
Meat was scarce, but appreciated. Sources of meat for the
Bedouin were their own animals and the occasional wild
game that once lived on the Arabian Peninsula (and has
since been hunted nearly to extinction). Fresh fruits and
vegetables were available at oases and in the high country
in the south-west.
Nowadays, diet tends to feature meat, mostly imported, as
the main ingredient. Cooking methods derive from the open
fires of the Bedouin. Meat is generally flame-cooked, roasted
on spits, either vertical or horizontal. Dishes are often served
with a rice base and served with various spiced and spicy
vegetables and sauces. Most main dishes are accompanied by
a great variety of pita or khboz (flat) breads that are cooked
to order and eaten fresh from the baker's oven. The most
common ingredient in sweets is dates, which is really Saudi
Arabia's traditional foodstuff.
Saudi Arabia's water supply is a mixture of ground water
(rapidly depleting) and desalinated water. Depending on
the area, you may be advised to use bottled water for both
drinking and cooking. Bottled water is widely available across
the kingdom.
Food and Entertaining 139
Stuffed Camel and Other Favourites
To amuse themselves during their not so busy hours, a group of expat
women on a construction site in Saudi Arabia wrote and published
a cookbook, Stuffed Camel and Other Favourites. The book is not
currently in print, but one of the authors has a rare copy, thought to
be priceless due to its scarcity value. This sample of dishes from the
book is a representative sample of a few Saudi favourites:
Capsa
Shawerma
Falafels
Muhammara
Salatat Bathinjan
Al-Motubug
Adas Bit Hamod
Hummus bi Tahina
boiled flavoured rice with chicken or
mutton (probably Saudi's number
one dish)
thinly sliced lamb or chicken rolled
with pickles.
deep fried balls of ground chickpeas,
flavoured with garlic and herbs
hot pepper dip
aubergine appetiser
stuffed pastry squares
lentils with lemon juice
chickpea and sesame dip
You can get most foodstuffs in Saudi Arabia, but the one
item definitely off the menu is pork. For those who must eat
bacon or pork, the nearest source, at least for those on the
east coast, is across the causeway in Bahrain.
RESTAURANTS
As a country that caters for its international workforce from
most parts of the world, you can probably find a restaurant
to enjoy your own cuisine— or anyone else's— in Saudi
Arabia. Western, other Middle Eastern (e.g. Lebanese) and
Asian (Indian, Thai, Filipino) food of various styles — even
fish and chip shops— are all readily available. Most globalised
fast food outlets are also represented in the kingdom;
McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut and Wendy's are just
some who have operations in Saudi Arabia. In recent years,
Saudis have adopted McDonald's strategy and created
fast food outlets of their own, thereby undercutting the
US fast food chains.
Food is inexpensive in Saudi Arabia, bearing in mind
that it is mostly imported. Restaurant prices are generally
reasonable. Budget meals can still be obtained for about
US$ 4-5. Prices in classier establishments go up from
140 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
there. Tips are not generally expected by table staff. Most
restaurants levy a service charge, generally thought to be
appropriated by restaurant owners instead of waiters, who
tend to be underpaid.
As in most things, dining out imposes restrictions on
women. The general rule is that women who are out and
about should be accompanied by a male who is a close family
member. Women not accompanied by an appropriate male
may not be served. Arrests of women dining in restaurants
unaccompanied by males, or accompanied by the incorrect
male, have been reported. Many restaurants will not admit
a group of women without a male guardian in attendance.
Fast food outlets like McDonald's have separate sections for
men and women.
The act of eating poses problems with the female dress
code requiring that the only parts of a woman's face the
outside world allowed on display are the eyes. Lifting the
corner of the veil to allow passage of food to the mouth
violates strict rules on covering. To overcome this difficulty,
when dining at restaurants, Saudi women are customarily
positioned at tables so they are facing the wall, whereas
the men of the family will sit with their backs to the wall
facing outwards. This, in theory, avoids the problem that
a stranger might catch a glimpse of prohibited flesh when
a female lifts her veil to allow the passage of food to the
mouth. Alternatively, to ensure seclusion, individual tables
in restaurants may be curtained off from other tables.
DOMESTIC HOSPITALITY
Like people elsewhere in the world, a Saudi may derive
much pleasure and pride from his house. Once a Saudi gets
to know you, an invitation to his home is likely to follow.
Such an invitation may not merely be to enjoy the pleasure
of your company. Like people elsewhere, Saudis may also
be displaying to their visitors and new friends a statement
of their assets, their skills at interior decorating and their
status in life generally. Appreciative comments you make
about the quality of the structure and the standard of the
appointments will be highly valued. But be cautious with
Food and Entertaining 141
your remarks. Arab culture errs on the side of generosity.
After effusive praise of some item that's not bolted to the
floor, the next thing you know your Saudi host may try
to give it to you! It is better to restrict your compliments
to immovable objects like architecture, dining tables
and carpets.
Saudis, it is probably fair to say, have a different idea
of interior decorating to much of the rest of the world.
Value of the artefact rather than consistency of style is the
major criterion. Saudis enjoy decorating each room in all
the colours of the spectrum and displaying objets d'art of
many different styles. Clashes of colour and culture are the
norm, not the exception. You are likely to find a valuable
vase bought in Florence, coloured blue, next to an antique
bronze Persian coffee set displayed on an ultra-modern
anodised bronze setting in a room painted in four different
colours with a patterned carpet that includes all the colours
of the rainbow. Needless to say, the hospitable thing to
do is to praise the display lavishly, as Saudis would of
the contents of your home, whatever they really thought
of them.
Central to the entertainment area of some Saudi Arabian
homes is a bar. A fair number of, though not all, Saudis
take an impish delight in flouting their country's prohibition
laws. If a bar has been installed, it is likely to be incredibly
well stocked. In a country where the street value of spirits
is over US$ 100 from a black market supplier, your host
will probably offer you anything that an upmarket hotel
would supply.
The finishing (or lack of it) is another cultural aspect that
is likely to catch the eye of those who are being invited
to comment on the splendours of a Saudi house. Saudi
building contractors are remarkably slack about
finishing their jobs. The million-dollar display of family
possessions is as likely as not to be illuminated by
a naked 100-watt globe hanging from the ceiling
by a frayed electrical wire. Electrical switches may protrude
from the wall supported only by their wiring. On the porch
of the house may lie a pile of masonry waiting collection
142 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
by a civic authority that may have disbanded some
years before.
Saudis seem oblivious to such incongruities. The country
has not adopted a culture of tidiness. Litter abounds. Piles of
masonry are likely to lie scattered beside and on the streets
of expensive suburbs. Exteriors of buildings tend to have
panels missing. Saudis are not maintenance conscious. If
bits fall off their buildings, they are unlikely to be replaced
in a hurry, if at all. Saudis are notorious in failing to service
their cars, then abandoning them by the roadside when they
break down.
Perhaps the attitude stems from the country's appearance
as one huge building project: a nation that seems perpetually
unfinished. The population of the country is growing at nearly
2 per cent per annum, which means that it's doubling every
35 years or so. City construction is proceeding at a prodigious
rate to accommodate this burgeoning urban population. One
of the most common vehicles on the road is the ubiquitous
Mercedes truck, usually coloured grey, carrying loads of fill
material to reshape the Saudi landscape in accordance with
the requirements of man.
ENTERTAINING, BEDOUIN STYLE
Arabs are traditionally hospitable, outgoing people. Some
of this tradition stems from the Bedouin days when
custom required that any visitor who might stumble onto
the campsite be offered a meal. In the days when water
and food were scarce, nomads relied on mutual support
for survival.
Some Bedouins adopt their nomadic ways only on a
part-time basis, spending the rest of their time living a life
indistinguishable from the rest of the population. A Bedouin
may be a geologist, a doctor or a bell hop. Or he may be
the Saudi working at the desk next to yours who will one
day surprise you with his Bedouinism when he invites
you out to meet his extended family camping out in the
desert nearby. If you accept his invitation, your colleague
may arrange a lunch in your honour. He may take you to
the family tent pitched somewhere in the desert. When
Food and Entertaining 143
you arrive at the destination, having probably travelled by
minibus rather than by the more traditional camel, you may
observe that many of the traditions of the tribe are still in
place— the tents, the goats, the sheep, and camels. Blended
with traditional items are the inevitable accoutrements of
the modern age— motor vehicles, portable TVs and today's
most ubiquitous mandatory accessory, the cellphone. Most
likely you will then spend an hour or two sitting around an
enormous tray bearing a spit-roasted sheep resting on a bed
of rice flavoured with raisins, nuts and spices. The meal will
be washed down with cardamom-flavoured coffee served
in tiny cups.
Dining practice Bedouin-style is an area where things are
pretty liberal. The custom is to take food with the right hand,
tearing and rolling them up in bread, rice or whatever other
absorbent foods might be available, before transporting them
to your mouth.
Saudis are not sticklers about their table manners. Since
they use their fingers as cutlery, they are not too fussy about
licking their fingers clean, though finger bowls are often
provided. Eating heartily when invited to dine is considered
good manners. Over indulgence isn't one of the seven
deadly sins of Islamic culture. Burping appreciatively after an
expansive meal verges on good form. Take your cues from
the other diners in this area.
Meals and coffee drinking are central to traditional
Arab hospitality. Most people visiting Saudi Arabia have
heard the story, thought to be factual, of the sheep's eye.
According to this account, the eye of the animal being
eaten is offered to the most honoured guest. The
guest accepts this delicacy since refusing would create
offence. (Western visitors knowledgeable on this point
of etiquette will most likely endeavour not to be the
honoured guest.)
On the other hand, if you charge unannounced and
uninvited into a Bedouin camp (according to an Australian
senior diplomat), don't be surprised if your initial greeting
is a bullet, a warning shot whistling past the windscreen
of your pickup. Gun culture ranks Bedouins as one
144 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
of the world's most heavily armed societies. Most
guns and explosives that enter the country for illicit
purposes such as trading to Saudi Arabia's jihadi are
smuggled across the 1 ,300 km border from Yemen. More
traditionally, the smuggled commodity has been qat, a leafy
stimulant grown in Yemen and, like the guns, also illegal
in Saudi Arabia.
After the sound of the shot across the bows of the pickup
dies down, the recommended procedure to demonstrate,
for Arabic speakers is to announce your peaceful intentions
by shouting, "Salaam Alaikuml" ('Peace be with you').
One word of caution though. Protocol regarding the use
of the phrase Salaam Aliakum is rather controversial since
the greeting was prescribed as a declaration of peace
between believers, rather than between believers and
non-believers. To avoid such cross cultural complications,
it may be safer to say "Hi" or "Hello" when trying to
make friends with a Bedouin pointing a smoking AK47
in your direction.
After such an intimidating introduction, the situation will
most likely improve. Survival in the desert has long been
precarious. The code of the desert was, and still is, to lend
a helping hand to other nomads, knowing that one day
you might need the favour returned. After the exchange
of greetings is completed, you will most likely be invited
inside the tent to drink tea or maybe partake of a feast if one
is available.
COFFEE SHOPS
Streets scenes in Saudi Arabia have a European flavour,
though perhaps not everyone would agree that downtown
Al Khobar resembles the left bank of the Seine. But
Saudi Arabian towns do share with the streetscapes
of Paris the penchant for coffee shops. The sidewalk
tables of coffee shops seem to spill out carelessly in
all directions.
Saudis camp at these tables for what seems like an entire
day sipping coffee out of tiny cups and perhaps smoking
with their companions through a common rosewater
Food and Entertaining 145
filled hookah. Coffee shops are one of the major social
outlets for the not-very-well-off of Saudi male society.
These shops are the Saudi equivalent of a bar or pub in the
West. A recent variant has been 'parlours', separated into
booths containing a hookah that can be shared between
its guests.
Coffee is a central feature of Saudi life. Arabian coffee
is thick and sludgy, and taken in tiny cups. Other types of
coffee — Turkish, American or French — are generally available
if preferred. Traditionally, coffee is served in decorated brass
coffee jugs with long slender spouts and delicate metal
handles. The modern version of this item is a thermos flask
that replicates the traditional shape. When you are offered
Arab coffee, your cup will continually be refilled unless you
make the appropriate gesture of refusal— shaking your cup
to show you have had enough. The custom is to drink two
or three cups. If you drink only one cup, you may send an
unintended signal that the quality of the coffee is not quite
up to scratch.
The Arab world has some claims to the invention of
coffee as a beverage, although its origins are uncertain.
Arabian legends of antiquity mention a 'black and bitter
beverage with the powers of stimulation'. The Ethiopian
region of Kaffa, according to most historians, originated
coffee and supplied the basis for its name. According
to this account, Arab traders brought the beans across
the Red Sea into present day Yemen, to the port of
Mocca (Mocha), which also became a word synonymous
with coffee.
Arabs call coffee gahwa, a word that later became Arabic
for 'that which prevents sleep'. The first coffee shops in the
world were probably those which opened in Mecca around
the mid-1 5th to 1 6th century. This is, in itself, curious. Under
strict interpretation of the rules of Islam, consumption of
coffee is prohibited since it is a stimulant. Saudis of rigid
orthodoxy will not take coffee. However, the bulk of the
population maintains a steady intake of the black and bitter
beverage, and may, as an additional vice, even chew coffee
beans while at prayer in the mosque.
146 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
ALCOHOL
In its first days as a multiracial society, prohibition against
drinking alcohol in Saudi Arabia applied only to Muslims.
In 1 930, after a passing drunk assassinated the British Vice
Consul in Riyadh, prohibition was extended to the general
community, including guest workers.
Like other countries that have practised prohibition, the
consumption of alcohol has not ceased but merely gone
underground, in Saudi Arabia's case, not far underground.
Though Saudi Arabia is a prohibition state, the authorities
tolerate discreet consumption of the evil fluid of the infidel
provided its production and consumption does not become
too obvious. Saudis don't really care all that much whether
alcohol addles the brains of its guest population. Everyone,
including the Ulema, knows that violation of prohibition
measures is common among the expat population and even
Saudis themselves.
Amateur beer and winemaking in Saudi Arabia is a minor
industry and a major interest in the lives of many expats.
Supermarkets in the kingdom sell vast amounts of the four
principal ingredients for home brewing— sugar, hop-flavoured
malt, alcohol-free beer and grape juice. Hop-flavoured malt,
ostensibly for making bread, is the key ingredient in locally
brewed beer. Grape juice, sold in resealable bottles to store
the final product, is the key ingredient for locally brewed
wines, and provides the container for both home-brewed
beer and wine. Expats organise competitions and award each
other accolades for the best in home-made wine and beer.
The increased security levels has made it more difficult for
people living in different compounds to visit each other and a
consequence of this is that illicit activities like the brewing of
alcoholic beverages has been driven further underground.
In addition to home brew, a full range of spirits are available
in the kingdom to all and sundry through an extensive black
market. Wine is not quite so easy to get. Black market booze
is a highly profitable business for the whole supply chain from
the importer to the final distributor. The operation to flout
the government's laws, a multi-million dollar import business
that has been running for decades, could hardly be conducted
Food and Entertaining 147
without the knowledge of the consent and involvement of the
highest authorities in the Department of Customs.
The Case of the Tipsy Piano
On one occasion, the story goes, a shipping container, ostensibly
containing pianos, was inadvertently dropped on the wharf at a
Saudi port, with remarkable side effects. The pianos appeared
to be leaking. A strange liquid that smelled remarkably like
Scotch whisky dripped from the base of the container — one
of thousands of cargoes that have entered the country under
false documentation.
Commercial spirits of every conceivable kind — whisky,
gin, bourbon, whatever the market demands — enter the
country by the container load and are distributed through
an extensive network of dealers to consumers paying
US$ 100-plus a bottle. Various stills in the country produce
large quantities of hooch called sidiqui, which in Arabic
means 'my friend'. T-shirts proclaiming, 'Sid Diqui is my
friend' are popular apparel amongst Western expatriates
working in the kingdom.
148 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Discreet drinking of alcohol in the privacy of your home
or someone else's home in a compound is fairly risk-
free. Authorities are prepared to tolerate the home brew
alcohol industry provided activities remain within expat
communities. Even so, it's not a good idea to indulge in
selling home-made booze, even to other expatriates. It's a
much worse idea to sell booze to the Saudis. Expat 'bootleg
bandits' who sell alcohol to Saudis take a big risk and, at the
same time, may jeopardise the entire home brew subculture
by attracting the attention of the authorities. Driving while
under the influence is also a very serious offence and a very
bad idea. Penalties for drugs offences are more serious again
—the penalty for drug trafficking is death, and there are
no exceptions.
Home Brewing and Poisoned Microbes
Though the authorities have reached a tacit agreement amongst
themselves to leave the home-brewing industry alone, the Mutawa'een
can be unpredictable. Occasionally people get caught and are charged.
One acquaintance tells of living in a compound of expat Westerners
in which wine- and beer-brewing was an established subculture. Wine
and beer tastings were an accepted form of entertainment, as was
an annual competition for the best wine. People had hundreds of
bottles of wine and beer in cupboards around their houses, fermenting
and reaching a drinkable condition. One day, a rumour circulated
that the Mutawa'een were intending to raid the compound looking
for alcohol. Residents were advised to unload their stocks — which
they all promptly did by draining their bottles down the sink — with
little thought for where the product might end up after it had been
discharged into the drainage system. Shortly after a slug of alcohol
arrived at the sewage treatment plant, it killed those bacteria whose
role in the grand scheme of life is to eat waste products that humans
must produce to stay alive, and thereby convert active sewage into
harmless constituents. As a result, the sewage plant was knocked
out of action for a month.
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS
OF SAUDI ARABIA
'Travel expands the behind.'
—Sir David Frost, BBC commentator,
Surviving the Climate
150 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
SURVIVING THE CLIMATE
To a potential visitor, the image of Saudi Arabia is a country
of endless desert and blistering heat. Perhaps this is an
exaggeration. The daytime temperature over most of the
country is ferocious in summer and most of the country is
desert. But from about November to February, the weather
in the area is quite pleasant. In fact, in parts of the country,
nights and early mornings can even become quite cold.
Inland, in winter, the minimum temperature can drop
below 0°C.
Come Spend Your Next Holiday in Saudi Arabia
An imaginary tourist brochure might advertise the charms of the
Persian Gulf and Red Sea settlements in words such as these:
spend winter in the country where the sun shines all day long. You
can book a pleasant room in a seaside hotel, take a stroll along the
esplanade in the warm winter sunshine, and breathe in the exciting
flavours of the east. The sea is warm, calm, clear and inviting. The
beaches are sandy. The temperature outside is just right. The fresh
northern breezes blowing down the Gulf cool your skin. Shopping
in the souqs of the crowded market place is exotic and tantalising.
Gold is cheap. Myrrh and frankincense are available in gallon jars.
You can buy shimmering fabrics, elaborate coffee pots and the most
fantastic range of jewellery. Down the road, the minarets glint in the
early morning sunshine. Out on the peaceful waters of the Arabian
Gulf, you can take a trip on an authentic Arabian dhow, just the way
it was when these ships used to sail to the East to return with the
fabled products of the Indies...
What a place for a holiday!'
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 151
It has to be said, few tourists are tempted by this splendid
vista of mild winter weather and sparkling blue waters for
the very good reason that visas are not offered to tourists
except under most exceptional circumstances. Other than
for pilgrims and the most intrepid adventurers, Saudi Arabia
has yet to make a significant impact on the tourist map. But
for guest workers, the pleasant winter conditions are there
to be enjoyed, hot summer weather notwithstanding.
While the country is generally arid, it does rain occasionally.
Riyadh, the capital, averages 81 mm (about 3 inches) annual
rainfall. Jeddah, on the Red Sea coast averages 50 mm (about
2 inches). What rain there is falls as brief winter downpours
that disappear rapidly into the thirsty sands which, a few
days later, may display a tinge of green. Life in the desert is
nothing if not tenacious.
In paved areas, storm drainage systems range from
inadequate to non-existent. Many buildings have been built
below street level. For a day or so, passing clouds that stray
from their normal flight paths can turn arid Arabian towns
into quagmires. After a cloudburst, traders patiently bail out
their stores and wait for normal weather conditions to return.
So before setting off for Saudi Arabia, don't forget to pack
your umbrella! This item is not readily available within the
kingdom for the few days when it is needed.
For visitors from more temperate climes, the sight of rain
may be a reminder of an event they never thought they'd
miss. The noonday sun is not the only climatic phenomenon
into which mad dogs and Englishmen venture. English expats
working in Saudi Arabia to escape from the weather back
home have been known to immerse themselves into these
brief and occasional storms, to perform a dance of gratitude
to the rain god.
The other distinctive climate feature in Saudi Arabia is
wind. The prevailing wind, the north-westerly shammal, rises
in the mountains of Turkey and blows down the axis of the
Arabian Peninsula. A less frequent wind, the qaw, sometimes
blows with equal force from the opposite direction. When
winds blowing across deserts reach a certain strength, they
start to pick up sand. Shammal has become Saudi Arabia's
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 153
generic term for a full on sandstorm, from whichever
direction it blows.
Walking around in a shammal in daylight hours is an
eerie experience. Your world is suddenly reduced to
monochromatic orange. No features are visible. The sun is
blotted out and complete disorientation is but a step away
but for one thing— you can navigate by the direction of the
wind. Shammals can last for periods ranging from a few hours
to days. Millions of tonnes of desert migrate this way and
that in a swirling sand curtain that may extend one hundred
feet into the air. Sand settles everywhere and anywhere. It
gets into your house through the smallest crack. Possessions
inside and outside buildings get covered with a fine grit. If the
winds are high, painted objects like cars may be sandblasted
back to bare metal. In coping with shammals, the ancient
rule of the Bedouins still applies: during a shammal, rug up
and stay inside.
WHAT DAY IS IT?
At certain times of the year, figuring out the date may be a
little more difficult in Saudi Arabia than in other places. The
basic units of time— the second, the hour, the day and the
seven-day week— originated thousands of years ago by the
early Sumerians, are the same in the kingdom as they are
elsewhere. To measure the span of its years, Saudi Arabia
has adopted the Islamic lunar calendar with a starting date in
ad 622, the year the Prophet Muhammad fled Mecca for Medina,
an event known as the Hejira. Islamic years are denoted as
'ah' or Anno Hejira, just as 'ad' means 'Anno Domino', the
Latin phrase meaning years since the birth of Christ.
Based on the lunar cycle of the moon's orbit of 29.53
days, the Islamic calendar alternates 29- and 30-day months.
The Islamic year has 354.36 days— the time taken by the
moon to make 1 2 earthly revolutions. The fractional day is
accommodated with a leap year of 355 days at three-year
intervals to synchronise the orbital period of the moon with
the rotational period of the earth. Further, finer adjustments
to align the third and fourth decimal points of the lunar and
solar orbits are made at longer periods. This is similar to the
154 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
one-day adjustment made to the Gregorian calendar every
400 years.
Because the Islamic year is shorter than the Gregorian
year, Islamic months occur either ten or 11 days earlier in the
solar year than they were the year before. The entire cycle
of days between the two calendars takes about 32.5 solar
years (33.5 lunar years) to complete.
Another effect of the shorter lunar year is that the gap
between the two calendars is narrowing. The year 2003 on
the Gregorian calendar was the year 1424 on the Muslim
calendar (or most of it was!). The original difference between
the two calendar years has narrowed from 622 at the start
to 579 at present. The gap will continue to close. Years
showing on the two calendars will momentarily coincide on
the first day of May in the year ad 20,874 which will also be
the first day of the fifth month (Jumada al-awwal) of the year
20,874 ah on the Islamic calendar. After that, the Islamic
calendar will show more years than the Gregorian. Or perhaps
by then, both calendars will have ceased to exist.
For those who need to know what day it is, Saudi Arabian
timekeeping has an additional complication. In line with
ancient practices, the official start of the new month is
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 155
determined by the sighting of the new moon rather than
by the number of days that have elapsed since the month
started. For a new month to start, the crescent sliver has to
be observed not merely by some ordinary mortal but the
particular mullah in a particular observatory.
Sighting the New Moon
Until the official eye has observed the new moon and broadcast this
news to the community, no new month can start. Words from the
website of Dr Monzur describe the drawbacks of this method:
'Islamic months begin at sunset on the day of visual sighting of the
lunar crescent. Even though visual sighting is necessary to determine
the start of a month, it is useful to accurately predict when a crescent
is likely to be visible in order to produce lunar calendars in advance.
Although it is possible to calculate the position of the moon in the
sky with high precision, it is often difficult to predict if a crescent
will be visible from a particular location. Visibility depends on a
large number of factors including weather conditions, the altitude of
the moon at sunset, the closeness of the moon to the sun at sunset,
the interval between sunset and moonset, atmospheric pollution,
the quality of the eyesight of the observer, use of optical aids etc.
Since ancient times, many civilisations and astronomers have tried
to predict the likelihood of visualising the new moon using different
'minimum visibility criteria'. However, all these criteria are subject
to varying degrees of uncertainty.'
As official literature on the subject describes, the new
month may not begin on time for a hundred different
reasons: the skies above the official astronomer may be
cloudy, the telescope could be out of action, the official
astronomer may have mislaid his glasses, and so on.
Months may start a day or two behind schedule, which can
play havoc with schedules of all sorts.
The problem is felt most acutely during Ramadan, the
month everyone wants to end at the earliest possible moment.
Without the official observation from the official observer,
Ramadan continues, and Eid-el-Fitr— the holidays of feasting-
cannot begin. This unpredictability of the religious culture
plays its minor havoc in the modern world, particularly at
airports. Though airports operate on the Gregorian calendar,
support services may not. Day one of Eid-el-Fitr is not a good
date to plan your exit from the country.
156 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
The Islamic Calendar
The 1 2 lunar month Muslim calendar runs as follows.
First Month
Muharram
Second Month
Safar
Third Month
Rabi'al-awwal (Rabi' I)
Fourth Month
Rabi'al thani (RabiTI)
Fifth Month
Jumada al-awwal (Jumada I)
Sixth Month
Jumada al-thani (Jumada II)
Seventh Month
Rajab
Eighth Month
Sha'aban
Ninth Month
Ramadam
Tenth Month
Shawwal
Eleventh Month
Dhu al-Qi'dah
Twelfth Month
Dhu al-Hijjah
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
All but one of the holidays in Saudi Arabia are observed on
specific days of the Muslim calendar. The exception is Saudi
National Day which is observed on a specific day of the
Gregorian calendar (23 September).
Public Holidays in Saudi Arabia
1 Muharran
Islamic New Year (First day of Muslim
Calendar)
12 Rab'al-awal
Birthday of Prophet Muhammad
1 Shawwal
Eid-el Fitr (Feasting at end of Ramadan)
Variable date
Jenadriyah National Festival (Festival lasts
about ten days and celebrates the founding of
Saudi Arabia by King Ibn Saud)
23 September
Saudi National Day
19 Dhu Al'Hijjah
Eid al-Adah (Feasting day celebrating the
pilgrimage to Mecca and the sacrifice by
Abraham of his son)
Since the Islamic calendar is based on the 354/355-day
year, from one year to the next, on the Gregorian calendar
each of these holidays (except Saudi National Day) is
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 157
either ten or 11 days earlier than the year before on the
Gregorian calendar.
ARCHITECTURE
The austerity of the Arabian Peninsula contrasts with the
splendours that history supplied on the other side of the
Red Sea. Despite Egypt's proximity, no one built pyramids
in Arabia. Nothing was built to compare with the Hanging
Gardens of Babylon just over the northern border. With no
administrative focal point in the region and little permanent
agriculture, the nomads of Arabia lived on the move, leaving
only limited physical evidence on the landscape to mark their
passage. Nevertheless, with the antiquity of its civilisation and
the incessant travelling of the Bedouin, pottery remnants are
commonplace across the desert sands. A fossicking trip into
the desert often yields something of historical interest.
Likewise the conquerors of the Arabian Peninsula who
came and went left behind them only a few physical
structures. Of the foreign invaders, the Turks established
permanent footholds that have lasted through to the present
day. The low forts and houses they built had thick walls and
slits for windows to deal with the heat. On both coastlines,
coral was the principal building material and usually coated
with a hard lime plaster. Further inland, mud brick buildings
are found in the central Nejd Plateau. Buildings up in the
mountainous regions, where rainfall is higher, are built with
stone plastered over with mud or lime. Only a few major
stone buildings, of which the Grand Mosque of Mecca and
the Prophet's Mosque in Medina are the standout examples,
bear testament to the splendours of Arabia's finest hour— the
Islamic empire of the Middle Ages.
At the beginning of the 20th century, only a few trading
posts dotted the gulf coastline. Jeddah, Mecca and Medina
were the settlements of the west. Riyadh was an oasis
township surrounded by low mud brick walls.
Most of the infrastructure of Saudi Arabia has been built
in the last 50 years. With the globalisation of architectural
standards, the downtown parts of Saudi cities— made up of
high-rise buildings— may remind you of any place you have
158 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
The past and the present. The remnant mud-dwellings (left) in the city of
Di'iyyah, the first Saudi capital is a far cry from the modern architecture
(right) that can now be seen in the kingdom's current capital of Riyadh.
ever been. Yet, architectural design elements that are distinctly
eastern convey an Arabic flavour that reminds you where
you really are. Saudi Arabia has some spectacularly graceful
buildings combining spires, minarets, domes, and highly
decorated arches that are all unmistakeably Arabic. Stylised
arabesque calligraphy and intricate geometric carvings are
worked onto external surfaces. Domes in striking blue, green,
yellow or gold make interesting features. Ochre renderings
in red mixed with brown and white complement the austere
desert surroundings and soften the harsh desert light.
Amongst buildings worth seeing in Saudi Arabia are
the King Khaled International Airport and the Ministry
of the Interior building in Riyadh, and the Humane
Heritage Museum in Jeddah. Various mosques built along
traditional lines, with minarets and slender towers, are
also lovely buildings. The finest mosque of all— the Grand
Mosque of Mecca— is unfortunately off limits to all but
card-carrying Muslims.
MUSEUMS
The country is not known for its antiquities since so few
permanent structures were built. The largely nomadic
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 159
ancestors didn't leave a lot of physical remains behind to
mark their passage through life. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia
does have a few museums of good standard. Principal among
them is the Riyadh Museum in the Department of Antiquities
office. Displays at the Riyadh Museum are the history and
archaeology of the Arabian Peninsula from the beginnings of
settlement through to the golden age of Islam. Jeddah also
has a couple of museums worth visiting if you are in the
area — the Municipality Museum and the Museum of Abdul
Raouf Hasan Khalil. The former is in a restored traditional
house and is the only surviving building of the early 20th
century British Legation in Jeddah. (In 1917, T E Lawrence,
aka Lawrence of Arabia stayed at the Legation.) The Museum
of Abdul Raouf Hassan Khalil is a private museum and has
over 10,000 items displayed in four houses.
LITERARY AND VISUAL ARTS
Sometime in the 8th century, paper made its way from China
to Baghdad and from there to the rest of Arabia. A paper
mill was built in Baghdad around this time. Later, the Arabs
introduced paper to Europe, trading it for scarce metals. In the
holy cities of Mecca and Medina, the printing and publishing
of the Qur'an and other religious and philosophical books
were important industries that serviced the period when
the Arab dominions led the world in science, mathematics,
astronomy and medicine.
The Mongol conquest in the 13th century started the
decline of Arab literature. Later during the Ottoman conquest,
Arab literature took flight in Egypt and Lebanon. Reverting
to its Bedouin ways, Saudi Arabia lost its culture of literacy.
Nomadic Bedouins travelled light, relying on oral traditions
of storytellers reciting tales. Paper did not return into Saudi
Arabia in significant quantities until the 20th century.
Though the kingdom is not noted for an enormous volume
of literature, arguably its best known pulication, the Qur'an,
is the most influential book of all time. Outside Medina, the
government runs a giant press printing around 10 million
Qur'ans each year in 40 languages. The books are distributed
free throughout the world.
160 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
In recent times, novelists writing about life inside
contemporary Saudi Arabia are bound by the same strictures
as the rest of society. Saudi Arabia is not a country where
critics of the system fare well. In the case of popular Saudi
novelist Abdelrahman Munif, not only was his Cities of Salt
trilogy banned for being critical of the House of Saud, but the
author was stripped of his Saudi nationality as well!
Like literature, other outlets for artistic expression are also
controlled. In a country run by clerics, it probably comes as
no surprise that the clergy determines the rules of painting.
Once more the Qur'an has something to say on this subject.
Images of real objects are not favoured. You will see no
pictures of sweeping desert scenes hanging in Saudi houses.
Saudi custom prohibits the painting of what are loosely
described as naturally occurring objects— people, animals, or
scenery in general. Saudi art is restricted to calligraphy and its
extensions, of which there are some fine examples. In Arabic,
letters and geometrical shapes that look like letters weave
intricate patterns that are unmistakably Middle Eastern. Saudi
art with its geometrical patterns tends to resemble Eastern
carpets and vice versa. Such art is liberally applied to many
surfaces— plates, canvases, plaques, tiles, textiles, sculptures
and wall hangings.
The rules of the clerics also fashion the performing arts.
It hardly needs to be said that female dance is prohibited
in Saudi Arabia. The Royal Ballet never books Riyadh on its
tours of the world. No performance of Hair is ever likely to
be staged in the kingdom. However, performance of Saudi
Arabia's traditional dance, the ardha, is allowed. This dance
has military origins and features barefooted males clad in
their normal street clothes of thobe and gutra jumping up
and down mostly in one spot while wielding swords. Parents
be warned! This is not a dance that should be performed by
your own children in your own home.
Music is not banned in the kingdom. On the other
hand, no visiting rock band has been known to perform
in Saudi Arabia. But the dictates of the Qur'an do allow
some forms of traditional music to be performed. Arabian
music is probably an acquired taste. The traditional musical
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 161
Saudis making music with traditional instruments.
instruments of Saudi Arabia are those of the Bedouin— the
tambourine (rigg), drum and stringed instruments — the oud
and the rebaba, which muster four strings between them.
Another interesting traditional song and dance known as
the al-mizmar is performed in Mecca, Medina and Jeddah.
The dance features the music of the al-mizmar, a woodwind
instrument bearing the same name as the dance and similar
to the oboe.
FINDING YOUR WAY AROUND
Since tourist facilities in Saudi Arabia are underdeveloped in
most Saudi cities, finding your way to a building you have not
visited before is not easy. Streets are poorly sign-posted if at
all, and addresses are not well numbered. Street directories
are non-existent for most places, though street maps may
be available for the larger cities. Even if street maps are
available, many of the minor streets and alleys will not be
marked. Since street names are poorly marked and difficult
to read with poor language skills, a common sort of direction
from the person you are visiting is likely to be: "I live in such
and such street opposite such and such a landmark." Before
setting out on a journey you haven't made before, it's a good
idea to make your own map if you can, including marking on
it some prominent landmarks by which to navigate.
162 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
THE SAUDI ARABIAN COUNTRYSIDE
Not all that many guest workers bother to go sightseeing
when in Saudi Arabia. Many never journey further astray
than the road between their compounds and the nearest
airport. If they travel within the country at all, they usually
do so by air.
However, driving over the nation's highways is an entirely
practical adventure. Saudi Arabia is a large country and
sparsely populated between its major cities. Travel by car is
swift. Motel-style accommodation is reasonably available.
Failing that, more adventurous spirits can camp under the
stars, which are spectacular away from the towns.
The countryside has its own austere charm, but the
normal precautions of desert travel apply. Don't stray far
off major roads. Preferably, travel in convoys of at least
two vehicles in case of accidents. Take spare parts such
as fan belts, engine oil, petrol and water. In case you get
stranded, take food rations plus plenty of drinking water.
Take some warm clothes too— the desert airs can get chilly
at night. And take plenty of documentation that will testify
who you are.
Except for off-limit religious areas like Mecca, you are
free to travel wherever you wish, though you are meant to
carry appropriate documentation. On your travels you should
carry your Iqama plus a letter from you employer authorising
your travel and authenticated by an immigration official or a
Chamber of Commerce office. If driving, also carry a full set
of insurance documents for yourself and your vehicle.
Rules are always changing (and may do so while you
are in transit!). People who want to travel should ascertain
the appropriate travel documentation before commencing
their journey. In theory at least, those who get caught
without the appropriate paperwork and can't convince the
arresting officer to take a lenient view, are liable to Saudi
Arabia's customary punishment — imprisonment for an
unspecified period.
Once en route to your destination, you pass through
countryside that holds few surprises. You are picked up from,
say, King Fahd Airport in Damman in the Eastern Province.
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 163
In the town itself, a few eucalypts — now the world's most
ubiquitous tree — line the sidewalks. (Eucalypts seem to be
the tree in general global use for areas in which no other
tree will grow.)
If you happen to be driving through the heat of the
day, the light is intense. Passing out of town, you drive
past rock formations that may well remind you of
pictures beamed from the Sea of Tranquillity by Apollo
astronauts: geologically interesting and quite appropriate
as a moonscape; but for earthbound mortals, starkly
austere. Further out of town, bare rock gives way to deserts
of small dunes. The eastern side of the country is flat
and monotonous.
From Damman, you can head up the eastern highway
north towards Kuwait, through Jubail and Ras'al Khafji.
The other choices of highways from Dhahran are south
through the oasis town of Al Hufuf towards the UAE, or
west through Riyadh to the Red Sea coast.
Roads in Saudi Arabia are elevated to prevent sand building
up on the bitumen surface. The surface is high enough that
the sand is blown across the road instead of being deposited.
Incidentally, driving through a sandstorm is not advised. Not
only is visibility reduced to near zero, but the wind-driven
sand can eat up your paintwork very rapidly.
Whichever way you are travelling, the initial scenery is
similar. In the first part of the journey, the road passes through
the coastal plain, low dunes that are flat and featureless.
The black road snakes ahead over a pale orange landscape.
Perhaps you will see an occasional palm tree or perhaps the
low dunes may sport sparse tufts of marram grass. Here and
there amongst dunes, the flared gas of an oil well shoots a
tongue of red flame and a contrail of dirty gas into the sky.
But mostly the vista is endless sand in various shades of
yellow, orange and red.
The most interesting landscapes as well as the major
historical icons are to be found in the western half of the
country, in particular the south-west. As you head west,
the country the landscape crinkles into the ranges that run
along the western seaboard. Towards the Yemen border, the
164 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
road winds through high hills and relatively fertile valleys
atypical of the rest of the country. To the north, the highway
heads up to the Jordan border, sometimes through rolling arid
countryside, sometimes along the coastal plain.
Places of Interest
Riyadh
Riyadh is the capital of Saudi Arabia with a population of
nearly 5 million. Riyadh took over from Jeddah as Saudi
Arabia's most important and largest city in the 1 970s. The city
is a stronghold of religious zeal. Wahhabism had its origins in
this area. The Committee for the Preservation of Virtue and
for the Prevention of Vice, The Ministry of Religious Affairs
and the Mutawa'een have their headquarters here.
The city sits in a basin surrounded by barren mountain
ranges. It is sited on one of Saudi Arabia's largest oases formed
at the confluence of three underground rivers, called wadis.
In past eras, desert travellers sought Riyadh as a welcome
staging post of trees, gardens and parks in the centre of a vast
desert. Desert travellers could trade their wares for dates and
other fruit from Riyadh's ample gardens. Today, the city is
still known for its greenery, though not enough underground
water is now available to sustain either its population or its
vegetation. Riyadh is supplied by desalinated water piped
from Jubail, 400 km (290 miles) to the east, through one of
the world's largest water pipeline systems.
One hundred years ago, Riyadh— surrounded by low
sandstone walls— was a city small enough to be conquered
by King Ibn Saud and his 40 stalwarts armed with the best in
breech-loading rifles the British arsenal could supply. Today,
remnants of the old city walls remain as a tourist attraction.
But the modern city has sprawled well beyond its original
boundaries. It is a modern city, having been substantially built
from the 1 960s. From an oasis in the more traditional sense,
Riyadh has become an oasis of high-rise. The infrastructure
and standard of accommodation and facilities is good. Being
near the centre of the Arabian Desert, the city is hot in
summer and subject to a wide temperature range between
day and night.
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 165
Jeddah
Jeddah (alternatively spelt asjiddah) is the commercial capital
of Saudi Arabia and the country's second largest city with
a population of over 2.8 million. Jeddah is the kingdom's
major seaport and dates from pre-Islamic times as a fishing
settlement which later became a transit point for the spice
trade and a gateway to Mecca. During the centuries of
occupation by the Ottoman Turks, Jeddah became a fortified
walled town. Fragments of the original city remain, though
20th century developers have demolished most of the
historical structures as a source of building materials.
Jeddah's most famous landmark is the floodlit corniche
that separates the main commercial area from the Red Sea
coast. The city also features what is claimed to be the world's
tallest fountain and some bizarre sculptures that are worth
seeing including a giant steel fist mounted on a granite block,
a penny farthing bicycle as high as a four-storey building and
crashed Cadillacs sticking out of a three-storey high building
and featuring tail lights that illuminate at night.
As Saudi Arabia's most cosmopolitan city, trade through
Jeddah has, to a degree, eroded the religious strictures of
Saudi Arabian theocracy. Jeddah is about as free and easy
as it gets in Saudi Arabia.
Taif
Taif, Saudi Arabia's 'summer capital' is located in the Hijaz
Mountains, a spectacular two-hour drive from Jeddah.
Standing at about 2,000 metres (6,000 ft) elevation, Taif
has a pleasant year-round climate with mild summers
(25-30°C / 64-90°F) and cool winters that sometimes get
below freezing. The normal population of Taif is around
400,000. Population doubles during summer with an influx
of vacationers escaping the heat elsewhere in the country.
Taif is a typical Saudi Arabian city of contrasting old and
new. Glass-clad modern buildings, several stories high, rise
cheek by jowl with the old mud plastered stone structures
with wooden louvred windows and carved wooden doors.
The city is located in the high rainfall area of Saudi Arabia
(around 400 mm or 16 inches annual precipitation). As
166 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
a result, the surrounding countryside is less barren and
supports agriculture, in particular vegetable gardens. The
traditional Bedouin souqs are well known amongst collectors
of Bedouin wares such as pottery, jewellery and carpets.
Mecca
Mecca, Islam's holy city with a population of 1.5 million,
is a jumble of high-rise buildings. Fast growth in religious
tourism from overseas pilgrims
who can afford airfares into
Saudi Arabia has propelled land
prices in Mecca to amongst the
highest in the world.
Mecca is the major tourist
attraction to the Muslims allowed
to go there. In developing Mecca,
the Saudi municipal authorities
have not been particularly fussy
about preserving their antiquities.
On the hill of Ajyad district, an
18th century Ottoman Fort-
built as a defence against Wahab
maurauders— has been demolished to make way for seven
apartment towers, six huge hotels and a four-storey shopping
centre. In the Mount of Omar District, developers plan to clear
many of the old buildings and build 120 residential towers,
each 20 stories high and able to accommodate a total of
100,000 people. A further five massive development projects,
if completed, will add 50 per cent capacity to Mecca's housing
market. Facing the gate of the Grand Mosque, Saudi bin
Laden is building a mammoth complex of skyscrapers for
the Al Saud family.
Medina
Medina, with a population of around one million, is Saudi
Arabia's other holy city. Situated about 400 km (250 miles)
north of Mecca, Medina is the city to which the Prophet
Muhammad retreated after he was persecuted by the
establishment at Mecca, and which later became his burial
The Price of Holy Land
Saudi Arabian cities experienced
an extraordinary boom of
property prices during the oil
price rise between 2003 and
2008. Nowhere more so than
Mecca, where land values at
choice sites close to the Grand
Mosque reached an extraordinary
US$ 1 06,700 per sq metre at the
peak of the boom— perhaps the
most expensive real estate in the
world and rivalling land prices in
Tokyo in the early 1990s.
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 167
place. For that reason, it is an important destination for
religious tourists. The city is situated on a plateau, about
700 metres (2,300 feet) in elevation, in the low mountain
range that runs along the western seaboard of the country.
Medina's most important building is the Prophet's Mosque.
South of Medina and worth a visit for historical interest
are the plains of Badr, the battlefield where Muhammad
fought his most successful campaign against the army of his
Meccan enemies.
Dammam
Dammam and Al Khobar are separate townships that have
joined at the edges. The third adjacent town, Dhahran— the
site of the first of the country's oilfields— was built mostly by
Aramco as accommodation for the oil workers who developed
the oil installations on the country's Eastern Province.
Dammam, Al Khobar and, to a lesser extent, Dhahran can
be regarded as a single settlement. The cities, built on the
Persian Gulf shore, have a long history as trading posts. They
are an interesting mixture of the old and the new, with souqs
and crumbling mud-brick structures giving way to shopping
malls and high-rise.
HOTELS
Most hotels in Saudi Arabia are in the mid to expensive range.
Hotels in Riyadh are usually slightly less expensive than
those found in many major European cities. Budget hotels
can also be found in Saudi Arabia but, generally speaking,
the bottom end of the hotel market is not well served.
This is not a country to which backpackers flock in
droves. The best information to be had for the low end of
the market is to be found in publications like the Lonely
Planet series. Hotel information for those making hajj and
umrah pilgrimages may be obtained from tour operators
specialising in this business or at websites such as
http://www.islamic-travel.ch/. For more general information
on all classes of hotel accommodation, try:
■ http://asiatravel.com/saudi/index.html
■ http://www.hotelstravel.com/saudi.html
168 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
TRAVEL BY TRAIN
By the time Saudi Arabia got around to developing its
infrastructure, air travel was well established over most of
the planet. Having made the great leap forward from the
10th century to the 20th century in a single bound, and
jumping right over the 19th century in the process, Saudi
Arabia never got around to developing a rail system of any
consequence. Instead, they built roads and airports.
The total length of rail in the country is less than
2,000 km. The major railway line is that between Riyadh
and Dammam which is used almost exclusively for freight.
But that could change in years to come if the government
carries through its rail development plan by building new
lines. On the drawing board is a cross-country rail network
with links between Riyadh andjeddah (945 km or 587 miles);
Dammam andjubail (115 km or 71 miles); Riyadh and the
Hudaitha border post with Jordan (610 km or 379 miles); and
Mecca and Medina (425 km or 264 miles).
A site of interest for Lawrence of Arabia enthusiasts is the
Hijaz railway built by the Ottomans that connected Damascus
in Syria to Medina. Lawrence and his troop of Bedouins
blew it up during World War I on the Jordanian side of the
border. The event was famously depicted in the 1 962 movie,
Lawrence of Arabia. Remnants of the railway, opened in 1901
and shut down in 1915, are still visible on the Saudi side.
TRAVEL BY AIR
According the CIA website (which provides the most easily
accessible statistical thumbnail sketches of the countries of
the world), in the year 2008, Saudi Arabia had 213 airports,
including military airports. Of these, three are international
airports, located at Riyadh, Damman andjeddah.
The national airline of Saudi Arabia is Saudi Arabian
Airlines (Saudia), operates both domestic and international
services. In its earlier days, Saudia earned a reputation for
eccentricity within the industry. In the 1960s and 1970s, it
suffered a rash of minor but newsworthy accidents. Stories,
possibly apocryphal, circulated of travelling Bedouins
attempting to barbecue their own meals in the aisles while
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 169
the planes were airborne and pilots taking their hands off the
controls during electrical storms and leaving things to fate.
Since those days, the safety statistics of Saudia have been
excellent. The airline has earned itself a Rating 1 on the US
Federal Airports Authority's safety assessment programme.
Local Rules on Flying
Saudia still maintains its reputation as an anachronistic airline.
No alcohol is served on Saudia flights, either within Saudi Arabian
airspace or internationally. During the daylight hours of Ramadan,
packaged food is handed out, but cannot be eaten. The cabin crew
advises passengers to take the food off the plane and eat it after dark.
In addition to the normal pre-take off safety features announcements,
after the safety features are identified and prior to take-off, a video
is screened offering prayers for a safe trip. The policy seems to be
working. No planes have crashed in recent times.
Air travel within the country on Saudia is configured for
business passengers rather than the economy class tourist
industry that is more common in other parts of the world.
Other than conveying Muslims to their religious destinations,
demand for tourism class airflight within Saudi Arabia is
limited. Flying around Saudi Arabia by Saudia is considered
expensive by international standards. According to one
account, one reason for this is that minor Saudi princes have
developed a practice of flying liberally within the kingdom,
displaying their Royal credentials to booking staff, rather
than buying a ticket. The revenue shortfall from this act of
royal self-indulgence is recovered as a 'royalty' levy from less
distinguished passengers. This is supposed to be one reason
for the higher ticket prices.
THE NUMBER ONE ATTRACTION
The principal industry in Saudi Arabia is oil. A trivial pursuit
question guaranteed to stump all but the most inveterate
Middle Eastern buffs is the identity of the country's second
biggest industry.
The answer is — tourism.
One hundred years ago, Saudi Arabia was among the
least visited countries on the planet. Apart from the Turkish
170 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
conquerors in residence at the time, there was only one strong
reason for anyone to visit this featureless piece of desert roamed
by some of the world's poorest people. That was the annual
pilgrimage to Islam's holy shrine of Mecca during the last month
on the Muslim calendar — the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last
month of the Islamic calendar and the month from which the
hajj gets its name. One of the five pillars of Islam, the hajj,
stipulates that believers, both local and from foreign lands should
participate in this once-in-a-lifetime voyage. Non-Muslims, in
contrast, are banned from Mecca on pain of death.
The Hajj Business
In recent years, businesses associated with the hajj pilgrimage have
become the fastest growing sector of the economy, employing four
times as many employees as the oil industry The number of religious
tourists topped nine million in 2007, resulting in the number of visas for
hajj visits being restricted due to infrastructural restraints (overcrowding
at religious sites and availability of accommodation). Since Islam is
now a global phenomenon, and with the easy availability of air travel,
the yearly influx of pilgrims has expanded past anything that could
have been envisaged by Islam's founder. With outgoing Saudi tourists
taking less extensive and expensive trips outside the kingdom, tourism
became a net positive industry on Saudi Arabia's national balance sheet
in 2002. By 2007, net tourism (money spent by incoming tourism
less outgoing tourism) was generating an annual US$ 6 billion for the
country, and Saudi tourism generating 738,000 jobs, or 8.6 per cent
of all employment within Saudi Arabia.
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 171
Like many of its ideas, Islam adopted the hajj from older
religions. Pilgrimage to Mecca is an ancient rite and long a
mainstay of the Meccan economy, extending well into pre-Islam
days. The star attraction then (as it is today) was Islam's most
sacred icon, the Hajar ul Aswad, the black stone of Mecca.
A hajj pilgrimage is quite unlike most people's idea of
a holiday. Each pilgrim must perform a series of most
intricate rituals performed in strict chronological order, and
at certain days of the holy month. Pilgrimage is hot, tiring
and hazardous work. Mandatory pilgrim activities include
hours of walking, a great deal of praying, much queuing and
incessant crowds.
Pilgrims are required to perform a number of rituals during
the hajj, largely symbolic of Abraham's journey in the desert.
Pilgrims must cut their hair at the appropriate time and to
the appropriate length. They must throw pebbles at the
Jamrah — three stone pillars — a certain number in the correct
order and at particular times. (The stone pillars are meant to
be symbols of evil. Bombarding them with pebbles is thought
to purge the stone thrower of whatever evil resides in the
pilgrim's soul). Pilgrims must also touch the sacred Hajar ul
Aswad and walk around its containing structure, the Ka'bah, a
prescribed number of times in certain directions. Live animals
must be sacrificed according to methods specified by the
Prophet. (Saudi Arabia imports six million live sheep each
year to be slaughtered at Mecca for this purpose.) Between
these activities is interposed a great deal of praying. The
entire process takes up to two weeks, with the result that
Mecca gets pretty crowded during the pilgrim season.
Throughout history, merchants around Mecca have
made a living from the once-yearly influx of tourists. Local
commercial tradition seems to demand that pilgrims are
fleeced in one way or another while on their pilgrimages.
Non-Arab pilgrims from countries like Pakistan, Malaysia or
Indonesia — foreigners who are unfamiliar with local customs
and prices— are particularly targeted since they can be
overcharged with little resistance. More indirect means are
also applied to relieving pilgrims of their money and their
possessions. One of the requirements of the pilgrimage is
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 173
that pilgrims must leave their possessions behind in a camp
somewhere on making the final leg into the Grand Mosque.
This is an opportunity for pilfering (though the more savvy
pilgrims discretely wear money belts around their bodies).
As well as that, during a pilgrimage, the pilgrim faces a
number of physical hazards to life and limb. For example, the
pillars of evil, the Jamrah, are contained in a pit surrounded
by a low stone wall that can be approached, and stoned,
from all points of compass. On occasions, poor aim and over-
zealous throwing have taken out a number of fellow pilgrims
standing on the opposite side of the pit. Another risk is being
crushed by crowds of excited individuals pressing forward
against the circular wall in which the Jamrah resides. Over
the years, large numbers of pilgrims have been crushed or
stoned at this site with fatal results.
The gathering of tribes with historical enmities also raises
tensions. Pilgrims from within Arabia itself may come from
other tribes with whom the natives of Hijaz are traditionally
not on speaking terms. Shi'ite pilgrims from countries like
Iran are denounced as heretics by the extreme elements
of Saudi clergy. Many Shi'ites have been officially executed
over the years as a result of their pilgrimages, and others
have been killed more casually. In 1991, the Saudi papers
quoted Abdallah bin Jibreen, King Fahd's appointment in
clerical ideology, describing Shia believers as 'idolaters who
deserve to be killed'. In making their pilgrimages, Shi'ites are
venturing into enemy territory.
Open warfare had broken out on occasions. In November
1979, after the Shia inspired revolution in Iran, a force
of about 300 Wahhabi fanatics led by religious activist,
Juhayman Otteibi stormed the Grand Mosque of Mecca
in a bid to overthrow the Saudi Royal Family and start an
Islamic revolution. The dissidents charged that corruption
and close ties to the West had cost the Al Saud regime its
legitimacy to govern. The fanatics held the mosque for ten
days despite attempts by the Saudi military to recapture it.
The situation was becoming internationally embarrassing and
the Saudis called in overseas support. French paratroopers
regained control, first by flooding the Grand Mosque, then
174 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
by electrifying the water. More than 100 fanatics and 127
Saudi police died in a shoot-out. Surviving dissidents and
suspected dissidents were later publicly beheaded throughout
the cities and towns of Saudi Arabia. For the benefit of those
unable to attend these beheadings in person, executions were
broadcast live on Saudi TV.
In July 1987 Iranian Shi'ite pilgrims to Mecca clashed
with Saudi police and the casualty list from the engagement
numbered 400 killed with many more injured. After a further
riot of Shia pilgrims in 1 989, Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic
relations with Iran.
Some pilgrims to Mecca escaped death at the hand of man
only to succumb to the hand of God. In 1 990, a tunnel packed
with pilgrims collapsed resulting in a total death toll of around
1,400. A further 270 pilgrims died in 1994, crushed in an
accidental stampede. In 1997, about 340 Muslim pilgrims
were burned to death when their campsite near Mecca caught
fire. Two more stampedes during the stoning ritual in 1998
and 2001 saw a further 1 50 pilgrims killed.
In view of the recurring high casualty rate, Muslims from
countries outside Saudi Arabia have queried whether Saudi
Arabia has the infrastructure and organisational skills to host
the annual influx of pilgrims. But the pilgrimages continue.
Despite the hazards, the number of pilgrims increases
each year. Some travel agents in Islamic countries outside
the kingdom specialise in hajj tourism. Kuala Lumpur, for
example, has a multi-storey building dedicated to arranging
hajj tours for its pilgrims. Travel agents offer their Muslim
clients a full 14-day Mecca/Medina experience, including
detailed guides on how to discharge their hajj obligations.
Package tours offer the obligatory rituals at Mecca along with
side trips, such as visiting Muhammad's tomb at Medina.
Guided tours take the pilgrims to the various religious sites
at the appropriate times.
With the hajj now a major industry involving millions
of customers, far more people arrive to perform their
hajj obligations than the holy icons at Mecca can easily
accommodate. Given the overwhelming demand for the
hajj from rapidly expanding Muslim populations across the
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 175
globe, the intricate rituals that pilgrims undertake at various
sacred icons have become bottlenecks. Management studies
have been conducted to investigate ways of speeding up
pilgrim throughput. Saudi authorities have encouraged
religious scholars to be more flexible in interpreting pilgrims'
religious obligations.
One obvious measure that could be taken is to extend the
pilgrim season. The basis for this idea is the umrah, which is
a simplified version of the hajj. While the umrah incorporates
many of the elements of the hajj, it is not accepted as the
full substitute. But the umrah has great advantage over
the hajj that it can be performed during the entire year.
According to The Economist, umrah travel is now growing at
10 per cent annually with three-quarters of a million umrah
pilgrims coming from Egypt to visit the holy cities of Mecca
and Medina.
To expand facilities for pilgrims and ease the burdens
of pilgrimage, the Saudi government has spent more than
US$ 35 billion since the mid- 1 960s in improving infrastructure
at Mecca. Despite these improvements the government
has been forced to restrict the number of tourist visas it
issues. Each Muslim nation has a quota of about one hajj
visa for every 1 ,000 Muslim citizens, meaning that during
the course of their lives, Muslims have only a 4 per cent
chance of fulfilling one of the pillars of their faith. Despite
the difficulties, the risks and the costs, the demand for
pilgrimages exceeds the availability of visas. Not only is
the hajj one of the five pillars of faith, becoming a hajji, the
term for a pilgrim who has successfully performed the hajj
obligation, is also a badge of honour.
Non-pilgrim Travel
While demand for Muslim pilgrimage has reached saturation
point, the same cannot be said for inward tourism more
generally. In fact, by making things difficult for its visitors,
Saudi Arabia has ensured only the most dedicated non-
Muslim tourists are likely to visit the kingdom. Entry
qualifications are stringent. You need to find someone inside
the kingdom to sponsor you. Your travel plans must be
176 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
'approved'. Only approved destinations can be visited. Your
travel will be chaperoned to some degree. The paper chase
of visas and permissions prior to your trip will be exacting
and laborious. But assuming success, you may then make
an officially sanctioned trip to the kingdom, to be taken
on an (expensive), controlled, but nonetheless interesting,
'approved' tour.
TOURING OUTSIDE THE KINGDOM
One of the great cultural contributions the USA has made
to the world has been the invention of R&R (Rest and
Recreation) leave. For Western expatriates, most employment
contracts in Saudi Arabia will have an R&R component.
Typically, two R&R leave entitlements of about 10-14 days
are allowed each year, in addition to annual leave. Under
most employment contracts, R&R must be taken outside
Saudi Arabia. Within reasonable limits, the company gives
you an air ticket to the destination of your choice. This is a
terrific opportunity to see some interesting parts of the world
at someone else's expense.
Saudi Arabia happens to be very centrally situated to
many attractive and interesting R&R destinations. It is also
within range of places that make an intriguing weekend away.
Cairo, Beirut, Damascus, the history-packed islands of the
Mediterranean, Cyprus, Crete and Rhodes are all within easy
reach. Most of South-east Asia, most of Africa, all of Europe,
the other countries of the Middle East and Russia are within a
chronological diameter of nine hours flying time. In terms of
travelling to somewhere else, Saudi Arabia is central. Though
North America is a little out of reach, non-stop flights are
available to east coast cities.
The easiest country of all to get to from Saudi Arabia is
Bahrain, which is now connected to the kingdom at Dammam
by a 25-km causeway. Taking a holiday in Bahrain may not
sound all that exciting to some, but attractions are relative.
Many on the east coast make the journey to partake of two
of Saudi Arabia's forbidden fruits— pork and alcohol.
But the Saudi immigration authorities have also heard of the
availability of pork and alcohol in Bahrain. They are diligent
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 177
in ensuring these prohibited items do not make the return
journey across the causeway. At the checkpoint between
Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on the causeway connecting the
two, immigration authorities customarily perform rigorous
checks of all vehicles inbound into Saudi Arabia. Standard
procedure is to use mirrors to check the underside of the car
for packages bolted to the underside of the body pan.
Such has been the influx of Saudis into Bahrain after the
causeway was completed, and such has been the attendant
collateral damage by single alcohol-impaired Saudi men, that
for a while five-star hotels in Bahrain restricted its bookings
to Saudi families only. The worst time to travel to Bahrain
via the causeway is Thursday morning when long delays
at the border crossing points can be expected from Saudi
weekenders heading for their rest and relaxation activities
in Bahrain. For the same reason, the return trip on Friday
evening also tends to be congested.
Paying Attention at the Border
As in all things in the kingdom, a greater than normal level of care
can keep you out of trouble. But lapses of concentration are human
nature. A British sales executive of 'African and Eastern' (one of the
three authorised distributors of alcoholic beverages in Bahrain) had
a sideline business in soft drinks inside Saudi Arabia. To service
this business, he would drive his own car across the causeway into
Saudi Arabia. While in Bahrain, he customarily carried a sample of
his company's products— a case of beer— in the boot of the car. One
day, he travelled to the kingdom at short notice and forgot about
his samples. At the border, Saudi immigration officials found the
beer. The sales executive was first jailed, then fired from his job, and
finally deported.
Further down the coast from Bahrain, is the United Arab
Emirates (UAE), a coalition of seven emirates, the main three
of which are Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. By car or by
taxi, any of the emirates is accessible from any of the others.
Modern and progressive, the UAE, about a two-hour flight
from east coast airports, is well worth a visit. As a base for
a tour into the area, Sharjah or Dubai are probably the best
places to stay. Both are very modern, attractive Arab-style
city-states.
178 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
For the guest worker and dependents, air travel around
the Middle East on regional airlines may involve an extra
degree of uncertainty. The fact that you hold a confirmed
booking may not guarantee you a seat on the flight. If an
Arab passenger decides at the last minute that he wants
your seat on one of the Middle East airlines like Gulf Air or
Saudia, the chances are he will get it. You may be 'bumped'
off the flight, a practice that is not entirely unknown in
other parts of the world, but particularly prevalent in
the Middle East.
One of the authors has had a personal experience
at being bumped off a flight from Bahrain to Cyprus
and, as a result, enduring a near-death experience from
freezing in Bahrain's extravagantly air-conditioned
airport during a 24-hour wait for a ticket out on the next
available flight. Expatriates tend to be bumped off flights
in the reverse order of the Middle East racial hierarchy.
Those with the least status, Asian and sub-continent
nationals from Third World countries, will find themselves
'bumped' ahead of Westerners. On one Kuwait Air flight
taken by one of the authors, the flight crew read out
the names of four Filipinos who were asked to identify
themselves as the flight, which had already been loaded,
awaited to take off. Everyone knew what was going on.
Not a soul admitted to their identities, but the individuals
were identified from the passenger manifest, extracted
from their seats and bundled off the plane to be replaced
by four Arabs. Filipinos stick together. After the extraction
was completed, the atmosphere in the plane crackled with
resentment. A near riot broke out when the plane landed
in Dubai, its next stop.
TAKING PICTURES
Saudis are sensitive about photo taking. If you do take
photos, you may also be taking a risk. People, including
one of the photographers for this book, have been thrown
into jail for snapping pictures without holding the proper
permits. Others have been jailed and held overnight just
for carrying a camera. Yet others have taken all the photos
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 179
they wanted and nothing happened. The law of the land is
this: photo taking without a permit is against the rules and
the source of permits that allow photos to be taken is not
entirely clear. The only photo taking that is entirely legal is
within someone's home.
Some of the photo subjects that would cause particular
offence are obvious enough. Saudi Arabia is sensitive to its
strategic position in the world. You would not be well advised,
for example, to photograph military facilities. Taking photos
of potential industrial targets such as oil refineries and port
facilities will not be well regarded. Religious icons are off
limits too— Saudis are sensitive about their religious beliefs.
Whatever might be interpreted as showing the country in a
bad light are risky photographic subjects. Snapping of abaya-
clad women in the street is not recommended. Saudis know
that the outside world views their treatment of women as
regressive. There is an argument, too, that taking pictures
of people or even scenery may violate provisions of the
Qur'an concerned with recording images. Saudi art, which
limits its subjects entirely to calligraphy, certainly seems to
confirm that rendering natural objects as pictures is off limits.
The safest photographic subjects are the country's most
splendid non-strategic structures such as soaring city skylines.
Street scenes inside expatriate compounds are acceptable
subjects. So are the natural landscapes and subjects like
camels. Whatever the subject, picture taking shouldn't be
too overt.
ENTERTAINMENT AND LEISURE
Entertainment in Saudi Arabia is more restricted than in
most countries. Activities such as gambling, drinking, a wide
range of literature, card playing, socialising with the opposite
sex (other than family) and various sporting activities that
display too much skin, are, in theory at least, all off limits.
Saudis rule makers regard life as a very serious business with
a stringent behaviour code.
It was once said that the Puritans (a Christian sect
prevalent in a past century in Europe) objected to bear
baiting 'not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it
180 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
gave pleasure to the spectators'. Likewise of the laws of Saudi
Arabia might seem, to Westerners, targeted at banishing
pleasure as distinct from advancing social justice. Measures
that seem to take the fun out of life for no obvious reason
include banning music played over telephones that are
on hold and jingles on mobile phones, banning sending
of flowers by friends and relatives to patients in hospital
and banning the children's game Pokemon. Even chess is
considered a questionable activity because of the possibly
idolatrous nature of the pieces.
According to one interpretation, the Prophet declared
all forms of entertainment off limits for a Muslim except
breaking a horse, drawing a bow, and amusing himself with
his wives. Perhaps this is the reason for the prohibition on
seemingly innocent pastimes, though it has to be said the
Prophet was silent on the matter of Saudi Arabia's current
favourite form of recreation — watching the national soccer
team on TV.
SAUDIS AND SPORT
Camel racing is probably the only uniquely Saudi Arabian
sport whose mass popularity has survived into modern
times. For thousands of years the camel has been the sine
qua non of desert life: the source of transportation, milk,
meat, leather, wool, shade, shade-cloth as well as sport.
Camels are one of the few animals that can keep hale
and hearty on the meagre offerings of the desert. Though
domestic camels show preference for more exotic foodstuffs,
camels can survive on anything that is even remotely
suggestive of being vegetable fare, such as spinifex and
thorn bush.
Though Saudi Arabia still contains plenty of camels
living a traditional life as pack animals of Bedouin tribes,
the country is now in the camel importing business. Some
consider the best camels are those roaming in the wild over
Australian deserts. These are the descendents of camels,
originally from Arabia, that were brought to Australia in the
1 9th century to serve as pack animals to supply Australia's
outback settlements. According to Australian folklore, only
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 181
The ship of the desert.
the most robust and healthy camels survived the long sea
journey, thus culling the weak from the genetic strain.
When road and rail displaced camel trains in Australia,
the animals were released, thriving to become the largest
camel population in the world, and the only significant herd
that runs wild with no human owner. Being isolated on an
island, this herd may also the most disease-free. Australian
camels have been imported for racing in Saudi Arabia along
with Australian know-how of improved husbandry and
training methods.
Camel racetracks have been built in most of the kingdom's
major centres. Races for prize money are held many weekends
throughout the winter months. In the manner of racehorses,
top dollar is paid for camels with breeding pedigree. Like
horses, camels go faster with lightweights on their backs. Sad
to say, Saudis have been known to engage jockeys as young
as four years old, obtained from underprivileged countries
like Bangladesh.
Horses, now raced for sport, have also played a key part
in Arabian history. Horses were first thought to have been
The Kingdom Centre stands out prominently in
the skyline of Riyadh. Towering at about 300 m
it is the tallest skyscraper in Saudi Arabia.
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 183
domesticated in about 4,000 bc, in the area of present-day
Ukraine. One Bedouin legend offers an alternative account,
claiming that the Arabian horse was God's gift to Ismael,
son of Abraham, as a reward for his faith. Whatever their
source, after they were domesticated, horses later spread
throughout Arabia, Central Asia and Europe. Civilisations
became dependent on their horses for agriculture, transport
and military activity.
Bedouins greatly treasured their horses, treating them
as members of their household, thus ingraining in their
horses a strong sense of loyalty towards their owners. Mares
were especially prized because they were considered less
temperamental than stallions and made less noise (thus not
alerting the enemy during raids).
Arabian horses were bred for their fine features, speed
and endurance, whereas the heavier European horses were
developed for strength and carrying capacity. The Arabian
horse was an essential aid to the spread of the Islamic Empire.
With superior speed and endurance over other strains,
Arabian horses have become the basis of the bloodstock
industry worldwide.
Falconry, another sport with long traditions, is still enjoyed
in the kingdom today. The apparently empty deserts offer
sufficient small animals and birds to serve as prey, though
overgrazing has reduced falcon populations in Saudi Arabia.
Most falcons are now imported from neighbouring countries
or further afield in Asia.
Originally falconry served as a way for Bedouins to
supplement their diet with wild game. As in the past,
today's young falcons are taken from their nests, with the
trainer becoming the surrogate
mother. Once grown, the falcon
is trained to perch on its trainer's
arm. Since they make better
hunters, female falcons are
favoured over males. Female
falcons are bigger and stronger
than males, are more patient
and less temperamental, and
The falcon is a favourite mascot
in the Middle East. For example
Gulf Air's first class lounge is
called the Falcon Lounge, in
the UAE one of the brands
of petrol is Falcon and the
Arab Gulf Cooperative Council
(AGCC) countries feature
falcons on their bank notes
and stamps.
184 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
At the falcon market in Riyadh, pure-bred falcons can be traded for millions
of riyals.
are thought to have better eyesight. Falcons can live up to
1 5 years.
With the influx of guest workers into the kingdom came
sports some of which have made and impact on the Saudi
scene and some of which haven't. The most popular imported
sport is soccer, the world's most popular ball game, which
has well and truly caught the imagination of Saudi public.
Like many countries, the country has spent plenty of money
developing its national soccer team, arguably the strongest
in the region. The Saudi national team has reached four
consecutive World Cup finals in soccer — 1994, 1998, 2002
and 2006.
Basketball, introduced in the 1 950s by guest workers from
the United States is another imported sport. Though the
game did not catch on for decades, basketball increased in
popularity after the introduction of a government programme
encouraging participation among schoolchildren and the
construction of hundreds of courts.
Despite these programmes, participant sport is still not
all that popular in Saudi Arabia. One possible reason is the
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 185
The Saudi Arabian national team before their qualifying game for the 2006
World Cup.
climate. Another is the traditional clothing that Arabs wear.
While registered sportspeople, like the Saudi football team
wear regulation equipment for their sport, casual players are
often seen attempting to play sports in their street clothes—
which are spectacularly unsuited to just about every sport
ever invented. Injuries are commonplace amongst those
who trip over the hems of their thobes while attempting to
knock a ball around.
Clothing is even more of a problem for Saudis interested in
beach sports. Despite a hot climate and warm water, Saudis
are not known for their inclination to take a cooling dip.
On beaches, normal Saudi dress code applies— a rule that
sometimes leads to tragic consequences. A few years back,
three Saudi women, who could not swim, drowned after
getting into trouble at a beach north of Al-Jubayl. The women
had entered the water fully clothed. They got out of their depth
and were dragged down by their abayas, while their menfolk,
similarly impeded, looked on helplessly from the beach.
The heat, the restrictions on displays of public enjoyment
and the restrictions on dress code in public do limit the
188 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
pastimes in which Saudis get involved. Since the Saudis
are sociable people with strong family ties, a principal
form of recreation for Saudi nationals is visiting friends
and relatives and having family picnics. Bedouins leading
urban lives take this idea a step further in maintaining their
links with their traditional haunts. Families take vacations
in the desert, setting up tents and spending a week or
two reliving something close to the life of their parents
or grandparents.
GUEST WORKERS AND SPORTS
Guest workers who enjoy participant sports will find plenty
of opportunities to show their talents in Saudi Arabia,
particularly if they live in compounds. Sporting facilities
in guest workers' accommodations in places like Jubail,
Yanbu and Dhahran are excellent. The full range of sports
are catered for— playing fields (usually with a fine gravel
surface), running tracks, tennis, squash and racquetball
courts, swimming pools and gymnasiums.
Sights and Sounds of Saudi Arabia 189
Uniquely Middle Eastern-style golf courses can also be
found in the kingdom. One of the authors was a member of
the Whispering Sands club (logo: a camel with a golf club
clenched between its teeth). This layout was constructed
by an earthmoving contractor who turned an otherwise
unused desert area into an 1 8 hole golf course. Facilities at
the club were exceptionally basic. Greens were areas of the
desert smeared with a bitumen solution. Tees were raised
areas equipped with driving mats. Fairways were sand dunes
that had been levelled. The rough was sand dune country
left pristine.
Course architecture of this type has advantages and
disadvantages from a player's point of view. The courses play
long and, under the hot desert sun, arduously. An essential
piece of equipment carried by golfers playing the sand belt
courses of Saudi Arabia is a square piece of AstroTurf off
which the ball is played wherever it lands. The principal
advantage is that playing every shot on AstroTurf certainly
improves the lies. One of the curiosities in playing golf in the
sand pits of Saudi Arabia is that there are no bunker shots!
Not all golf courses in the Middle East are quite like the
Whispering Sands. Championship courses, of which there
are a few, particularly in the UAE, offer completely irrigated
grass layouts of a standard you would find anywhere. Saudi
Arabia has one— the Riyadh Golf Club.
Waters of both the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea are
suitable for swimming— though on the Gulf side of the
country, the beaches tend to shoal very gradually. Despite
the volume of oil being extracted and shipped, waters and
beaches on both sides of the country are reasonably clean.
Beaches are segregated into family beaches and men-
only beaches. No women-only beaches are known to exist.
Single men must not use family beaches. Women can only
use family beaches. Both sexes should take care to establish
the status of the beach they are intending to use.
Water sports other than swimming are also available.
The Gulf, particularly the Red Sea, has a number of good
dive sites where diving can be conducted hassle-free from
the auhorities. Dive boats are available for hire. According
190 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
to government websites, nautical activities such as sailing,
windsurfing and waterskiing are permitted. But in the
authors' experience, what is actually allowed may depend on
the rules of the day as interpreted by local authorities. One
of the concerns the authorities have about people messing
about in boats is the opportunity for espionage.
The moral aspect, too, must be borne in mind. An
enterprising Dutch guest worker at a job site in Jubail once
started an off-the-beach yacht club at a secluded beach. After
a few successful meets, the club attracted a visit from the
Mutawa'een. The objection of the religious police was not
that the sailing club represented a threat to national security,
but more that the Dutch girls on the beach and in the boats
were, in their view, indecently clad. The club was raided,
disassembled and closed down. By contrast, other sailing
clubs, on both coasts, have remained open for many years.
What gets shut down and what remains open is at the whim
of individuals of the Saudi regulatory authorities responsible
for community virtue.
L6RRNING RRRBIC
'An intelligent deaf-mute is better
than an ignorant person who can speak.'
—Arab Proverb
192 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
SPEAKING ARABIC
Arabic, a Semitic language related to Hebrew and Aramaic
is spoken by over 180 million people in North Africa, and
most of the Middle East as their first language. As the
language of the Qur'an it is studied by many millions more
Muslims globally.
Arabic is thought by some Westerners to be a difficult
language because it is written in an unfamiliar script and
some of the sounds are made at the back of the mouth and
throat (the glottals). But it has its redeeming features. For
instance, it is a stress/timed language making its rhythm
predictable and regular whereas English reduces and blends
sounds together to fit its stress patterns. Intonation patterns
of English and Arabic are similar: for example, questions are
posed with a rising intonation.
The earliest copies of the Qur'an were written in a heavy
monumental script known as Kufic but around ad 1000
this was replaced by Naskhi, a lighter cursive script joining
letters together and widely used in Saudi Arabia today.
Modern Arabic is not all that unlike other written languages.
It has an alphabet and rules of grammar. The Arabic
alphabet probably came into existence in the 4th century
ad has 28 letters — 22 consonants and six vowels. There are
eight vowel sounds, including dipthongs, compared to 22
in English.
The three short vowels are:
Learning Arabic 193
■ a like the vowel in the word hat
■ i like the vowel in the word hit
■ u like the vowel in the word put
The short vowels are not written because they occur in
predictable patterns, although encoding words into script
when script is being translated from English into Arabic
can cause confusion, especially when your name is being
translated into Arabic.
The five long vowels are:
■ aa as the vowel in father
■ ii like the vowel in keen
■ uu like the vowel in food
■ oo like the vowel in home except the lips are rounder
and tenser
■ ee like the vowel in may but with the lips more
tensely spread
The consonants b, d, f, g, h, j, k, 1, m, n, s, t, v, w, y and
z are virtually identical to their English counterparts.
Pronunciation Guide
As nicely summed up by Lawrence of Arabia himself,
transliteration of Arabic words is fraught with difficulties. Many
letters in the Arabic alphabet do not have an equivalent in the
English language. Here is a brief explanation of the pronunciation
of the letters as they appear in transliterated text
Vowels
a this is not normally written in Arabic, but does appear in
transliterated text. Its pronunciation is somewhat similar
to the a in bag.
u is also not usually written in Arabic. Its pronunciation is
similar to the u in put.
i not written but pronunciation is similar to the i in sit.
aa (a) this appears in Arabic and is often referred to as a long a
like in father. It is sometimes transliterated as aa.
uu (u) this sounds like a long o and is sometimes transliterated
as oo. It sounds like the oo in spoon.
ii (i) it's a long i and is sometimes transliterated as ee.
194 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Pronunciation Guide (conintued)
Consonants
b
the pronunciation is similar to the English b
t
it is pronounced like the English f
r
rolled r, somewhat like the r in road
d
similar to the English d
s
similar to the English s
r
similar to the English f
h
similar to the English h
K
similar to the English k
1
similar to the English /
m
similar to the English m
n
similar to the English n
y
spoken like the y in the word yes
w
similar to the English w
q
it sounds like a k but is pronounced deep in the throat
kn
it is similar to the ch in the German name Bach or the kh
in khan
g h
specific to Arabic, it sounds like a highly expressed rolled r
th
when written together in transliterated text, they denote
one letter, pronounced like the th in the word think
sh
like th, sh denotes one letter and is pronounced like the
sh in the word ship
dh
another combination that denotes one letter and is
pronounced like the th in the word that. It has no sound
and works as a pause in a word
Most of the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet have similar
sounds to those in English but Westerners often have difficulty
in making some sounds. Some words like la meaning 'no'
in Arabic require the speaker to make a sudden stoppage of
breath at the conclusion of the word so that it sounds like
'la-huh'. Other words like a'reed, meaning 'I want' in English,
require the a to be pronounced as ah far back in the throat.
The greeting phrase SabaHel Khair meaning 'good morning'
requires the H to be pronounced similar to the h in English
but far back in the throat. The Arabic word for the numeral
five, khamseh, requires the kh to be a guttural sound like the
Learning Arabic 195
Scottish ch in loch or the German ch in nacht. The metric
weight gram is ghram in Arabic and the gh is as a guttural
sound far back in the throat as the French pronounce the
letter r in Parisian.
READING ARABIC
Arabic is read from right to left with the exception of the
numbers which are read from left to right. Numbers in
English are borrowed from the Arabic numeral system using
one symbol each for through to 9 and then adding new
place values for tens, hundreds, thousands, and so on. A list
of numbers in Arabic is found in the Glossary.
Arabic contains many references to God plus expressions
of piety, courtesy and sociability. Bedouins infuse spoken
Arabic with richness and emotion. The language has literary
elegance, and a wide range of subtle meanings suit Arabic
to poetry — a leisure activity of many Saudis. Formal poetry
prose and oratory play a key role in Saudi culture. Bedouin
poets passed on their history to following generations,
recounting in their poems ideals of manliness, gallantry,
bravery, loyalty, generosity and independence of spirit.
Reflections of a Bedouin
Sandra Mackey in her book The Saudis recounts the story of an old
Bedouin man suffering from a chronic disease who launched into a
perfectly constructed poem after being examined by an American
doctor at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital. In his poem, he praised
Allah for being allowed to come to this famous hospital but, in verse
after verse, lamented the fact that he was not yet cured.
WRITING ARABIC
Non-technical business communications within the kingdom
are most likely to be in Arabic, with English communications
fairly widespread. Technical subjects are mostly in English.
With the advent of computers, the written aspects of business
tend to be conducted in English, with perhaps an Arabic
translation. Since Arabic is an alphabeticised language, it
can be typed on a normal 'qwerty' style keyboard. Word
processing software usually incorporates a switch facility on
196 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
the standard keyboard so that bilingual typists can switch
from one language to the other.
Legal contracts tend to be written in English, or maybe
both languages. Somewhat oddly, if the contracts are drafted
in English, then translated into Arabic, the laws of the land
require that in the event of conflict between the English and
Arabic version, Arabic prevails; thus preserving any translation
errors that have been made in the final agreementl
ARABIC AS SPOKEN BY ARABS
Saudis also use language as a means of aggression rather than
physically fighting. When Saudis communicate in Arabic or
English, they often do with exaggerated flattery. Threats are
conveyed with a similar level of exaggeration. Through their
love of language, Saudis are swayed more by words rather
than ideas and more by ideas than facts.
As you go about your business, you will encounter shouting
matches at incidents like motor vehicle collisions where the
crowd of spectators become participants waving their hands
around and making a great deal of noise. In the parking lot
like the one at the Safeway Supermarket in Damman, you
may see a Saudi sitting in his car blocking someone else who
wants to get his car out. The blocking Saudi will not move
until he has completed his argument with the other driver,
or until assembled spectators to the disagreement force him
to move his car.
Despite such shouting matches, it is most unusual to see
a Saudi strike another Saudi. This carries through to the
government who, for example, regularly condemns the State
of Israel in the most vehement and bloodcurdling terms but
rarely takes action.
Saudi commoners expect their princes to use poetic
language in announcements to other nations. Western
commentators may have trouble decoding the real message
behind the words. Take for example the simple 'yes' or 'no'.
To an American or another English-speaking Westerner,
this is a definitive statement. Not so in the case of a Saudi.
Because Saudis use flowery language and are accustomed
to exaggeration and over-assertion, they find it difficult to
Learning Arabic 197
respond to a brief simple statement. So when you hear a
Saudi say 'yes' to a business proposition, you have to keep
in mind that chances are he really means 'maybe'.
Like most languages, Arabic has regional variations, but not
enough to prevent citizens throughout the Arab world from
understanding each other. Classical Arabic and Gulf Arabic
are the two main variants that are spoken in Saudi Arabia
although there are five major dialects.
Classical Arabic spoken in Egypt is generally held to be
Arabic's most prestigious form and is readily understood
in most of the Middle East because of the massive export
of popular Arab culture in the form of films, TV soaps
and popular songs. Its grammar is more complex than
dialect Arabic. Classical Arabic is usually spoken in formal
discussions, speeches and news broadcasts, and is the only
form of written Arabic.
Gulf Arabic is spoken by nationals in Bahrain, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Yemen, and is
generally understood by Arabs living in Egypt, Lebanon,
Jordan, Palestine, Sudan and Syria. Gulf Arabic is less
understood by Arabs living in North Africa and Iraq, although
one of the authors had few problems when he spoke Gulf
Arabic in Baghdad.
LEARNING ARABIC
Arabic grammar is different from English grammar in quite
a number of ways. In Arabic, verbs precede subjects. Adding
laa or maa to a word makes it
negative, rather in the same
way as the English prefix un.
Pronouns can be prefixed or
suffixed to a verb which is always
gender specific. Participles can
be added to the beginning or end
of words and can also be infixed
or placed in the middle.
For those that are interested in
learning it, Arabic is an interesting
language. Those who make the
The attitude to learning Arabic
varies with your role. If you are a
diplomat, for example, mastery
of Arabic may be highly
regarded. If you are further
down the pecking order,
less so. Within the Western
expat community there
is an old school tie network
centred on MEKAS which
is a British Foreign Service-
sponsored school in Lebanon
that teaches Arabic to
Western diplomats and
senior executives.
198 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
effort to tackle the alphabet and acquire a basic vocabulary
are likely to get more out of their visit to the Middle East than
those that don't. For anyone wanting to try learning Arabic,
plenty of tutorial classes are available.
One point to note: those who take the trouble to learn Arabic
will need to exercise their Arabic language skills judiciously.
If you know enough Arabic to understand a conversation in
the language, you ought to do one of two things: either keep
your language skills to yourself or announce them at the
earliest possible opportunity. Arabs will generally assume
that non Arab expatriates don't speak a word of Arabic.
Arabs are accustomed to speaking among themselves in
front of Westerners, confident that they are having a private
conversation that cannot be understood. If they subsequently
learn this assumption hasn't worked out, they may feel
you have eavesdopped on their conversation.
COMMON ARABIC EXPRESSIONS
The following are few of the more common expressions used
in base level conversation:
Hello
Salaaam ali kum
Response to 'hello'
Wa alikum salam
How are you
Kay far lick
Good
Zane
Praise be to God
(I'm fine )
Al humdallah
Good morning
Sabakl kair
Good evening
Sabakl noon
My name is...
Ismi...
What is your job?
Aish shtuggle
Where is
Wayne
Why
laysh
How much
Cham
Please
Min fadhlek
Learning Arabic 199
Thank you Shookran
Please take
Tfadhal
Come here
Taal hini
Yes
Enaam
No
La
Arabian coffee Gahwa
English words which derive
from Arabic include 'alchemy',
'alcohol', 'algebra', 'alkali'
'almanac', 'arsenal', 'assassin',
'cipher', 'elixir', 'nadir', 'mosque',
'sugar', 'syrup' and 'zero'.
SAUDI S SECOND LANGUAGE
The second language in Saudi Arabia, like most places is
American English, which is taught in all schools and widely
spoken throughout the Kingdom. Signage around the
countryside is in Arabic and English. In addition, English
tends to be the second language
of the guest workers from non-
English speaking countries and
over time, has crept into every
day Saudi speech. For example
Saudis are inclined to answer
the telephone with a Saudi
corruption of 'hello-hallas' and concluding their conversation
with the Arabic word yella meaning 'let's go' and then say in
English 'bye-bye'. English words that have crept into everyday
Arabic speech include 'sandwich', 'bus' and 'radio'.
BODY LANGUAGE
Saudi body language tends to be fairly forgiving. In fact,
perhaps as you face your Saudi boss across the office desk
and observe that under his desk, he has removed his sandals
and is sitting on his foot placed on the seat of his chair, you
may feel that in the area of bodily behaviour, anything goes.
Like most places, Saudi Arabia does have a few prohibitions,
though Saudis are not too pernickety in the unacceptable
body language area.
But there are a few gestures that are considered insulting.
Amongst these are the upward raising of a single finger,
excessive pointing, fist clenching and clapping an open palm
over a closed fist. One thing Saudis do not like to see is the
soles of your feet. This is not a culture where you would put
200 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
your feet up on your desk, or even use a footrest. Exposing
the soles of the feet to another person is considered a mild
insult. You should be careful how you arrange your limbs
and try not to cross your legs.
WORKING AND
DOING BUSINGS
IN SAUDI ARABIA
CHAPT€R 9
'Make your bargain before beginning to plough.'
—Arab Proverb
202 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND
THE LABOUR FORCE
During the 1 970s, under King Faisal, Saudi Arabia embarked
on a programme to apply its oil revenue to building an
industrial infrastructure. The obvious industries to develop
were those based on hydrocarbon feedstock (from the oil
refining process) such as fertilisers and plastics. For good
measure, Saudi Arabia also built a steel industry based on
reduction of iron oxide by gas instead of coal.
Two fishing villages, Jubail on the Arabian Gulf and Yanbu
on the Red Sea, were the selected locations for new industrial
cities in which these industries were located. Both sites
offered deepwater ports. Yanbu was strategically situated half
way along the Red Sea coastline. Jubail lay at the centre of an
oil/gas producing area and was the site of a major US naval
base. From the basic industries it was hoped, the secondary
and tertiary industries would also develop to transform Saudi
Arabia into a manufacturing country.
The development plan was grand in its vision. But
ultimately its results have been marginal. The industrial cities
did succeed in setting up some basic industries, but Saudi
Arabia has not turned itself into a manufacturing nation in the
manner of Japan, Singapore and other Asian countries. The
basic industries were built, but no commensurate programme
was undertaken to develop the technical personnel to run
them. And despite its industrialisation programmeme, Saudi
Working and Doing Business in Saudi Arabia 203
Saudis monitor share prices at a bank in Riyadh.
Arabia remains almost entirely dependant on its exporting
oil and gas products.
After the second oil price spike of 1979, the price of oil
went into a long decline and the fortunes of Saudi Arabia
did likewise. As oil revenue declined, Saudi Arabia fell into
deficit, financing its operations by borrowing. In the 1970s,
Saudi Arabia had been a creditor country. By the 1 990s, Saudi
national debt was over 100 per cent of GDP.
But reprieve was at hand. A third boom for Saudi Arabia
started at the turn of the century with oil prices rising for
five years before topping out in 2008, then entering another
precipitous decline in the following year. During periods
of strong oil prices, Saudi Arabia bolstered its reserves of
foreign capital. During the down years, the country deficit
budgeted. Either way seems to have had little direct effect
on the demand for expat labour. In the short term at least,
the country has continued to hire foreign labour regardless
of the oil price.
WHY CAN'T THE SAUDIS RUN
THEIR OWN COUNTRY?
Despite two generations since the first commercial
development of their own oilfields, Saudis of the present day
seem to be no more capable of running their own country
204 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
than they were when their industrialisation started in the
1 940s. They still rely on a massive foreign workforce to get
their day's work done. The question is often asked— why can't
the Saudis run their own country? The answer seems to lie in a
mix of cultural and historical reasons that have changed little
since Saudi Arabia first attempted to make the transition into
a modern country.
One reason proposed is the absence of a traditional work
culture. Agriculture, according to anthropologists such as
Jared Diamond (and detailed in his prize winning book,
Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies), was
the wellspring of the present work ethic of both the East
and West. In the West, the idea that man was put into the
world to toil is sometimes referred to as the 'Protestant work
ethic' — an invention not merely of the Christian Church, but
also of the lord of the manor of the feudal system during
the Middle Ages. In times past, peasants were compelled to
work in the fields from dawn to dusk. When the Industrial
Revolution came along, the work ethic was transferred into
town where workers toiled from dawn to dusk in the factories
of the new industrial world. In societies with a culture of
permanent agriculture and then of industrialisation, work
was an essential part of life. Work filled people's lives. Sloth
was listed as one of the seven deadly sins of economics—
and still is.
Such a mindset never got underway in Saudi Arabia.
Around 3000 bc, the permanent agriculture of the Sumerians
took root in the 'Fertile Crescent', centred around the Tigris-
Euphrates confluence in present-day Iraq. Permanent
agriculture then spread east and west, becoming the mainstay
of both Asian and Western societies. But Sumerian agriculture
ultimately failed. Major factors behind this failure were
salinity and climate change. The area became increasingly
arid and depopulated as a result. Few large permanent
settlements existed from which artisanship and innovation
could spring. While agriculture prospered elsewhere in
the world, and industry later followed, the region which
invented permanent agriculture drifted back into nomadic
animal husbandry.
Working and Doing Business in Saudi Arabia 205
After that, little changed for thousands of years. Bedouins
lived a hand-to-mouth existence of driving their flocks
between one patch of meagre grass and the next. While
their animals were grazing, there was little for Bedouins to
do during the hottest hours of the day but shelter from the
brutal sun inside their camel-hair tents. Conditions were too
harsh over most of the country for crops. As a result, Saudi
Arabia failed to develop a culture of working in the fields
from which a tradition of working in factories flowed in other
countries. Bedouin traditions were more in line with other
hunter-gatherer societies — Australian Aborigines, Eskimos,
most North American Indians and Khalari Bushmen — who
were also fast-forwarded into the modern-day work culture
without the time to adjust to the work ethic that gripped
much of the rest of the world.
Despite the Arab advances of the Middle Ages, when
industrialisation arrived in the 20th century, Saudi Arabia
wasn't prepared for it. Unlike countries like the US,
Saudi Arabia had no history of pioneering struggle to
lay its foundations for a modern state. Unlike countries
of Europe, and even Egypt, there were no generations
of transition from agriculture to industrialisation. Unlike
the nations further east — India and China — no complex
administration was in place to handle commerce, trade
and government.
With the advent of oil, the Saudis made a giant leap forward
from Bedouinism to the consumer age in a single stride. The
solution to the shortage of labour skills was promoted by
oil companies themselves — hire a skilled foreign workforce
to build an alien technocrat core within a technologically
ignorant society. This was easily accomplished in just a few
years. A society based on oil was an easier transition than
other forms of industrialisation that revolutionised economies
in other countries. Oil was simple. Oil companies drilled an
oil well. Oil flowed to the surface all by itself, discharged
into a pipeline and from there into an oil tanker. Everyone
made money.
The influence of the Wahabbism sect of the Muslim
religion was another factor that prevented Saudis from
206 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
acquiring the skills needed to run their own country.
Wahabbism is a highly dogmatic belief system that resists
new knowledge, rejecting as sinful what other nations term
as 'progress'. Nations with a more tolerant brand of Islam
have done better reconciling their Islamic beliefs with the
ideals and aspirations of the modern world. Malaysia, for
example, has managed to maintain its religious core culture
while building a successful modern economy.
But not Saudi Arabia.
The type of education Saudis receive is a related factor
inhibiting the country's progress. The education system trains
the new generation in theology not technology. A bachelor's
degree in Islamic philosophy is not a qualification that finds
employment in a job market that seeks engineers, skilled
workers, technicians and business graduates. In the 1 990s,
over 6 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP)
was spent on education— much higher than most countries
of a similar economic profile. But little of this expenditure
had brought tangible benefits to the country.
Saudi Arabian Self Sufficiency:
the UN Assessment
In 2002, the United Nations (UN) published the Arab Human
Development Report which considered the question of Saudi
Arabia's lack of labour self-sufficiency. The report found factors
contributing to the kingdom's dependency on foreign labour
were lack of personal freedom, poor education, government
appointments based on factors other than merit and rules against
employing women, particularly in small business.
Says the Arab Human Development Report: 'The barrier to better
Arab performance is not a lack of resources, but the lamentable
shortage of three essentials: freedom, knowledge and manpower.
It is these deficits that hold the frustrated Arabs back from reaching
their potential — and allow the rest of the world both to despise and
to fear a deadly combination of wealth and backwardness.'
— Source: Arab Human Development Report,
Nader Fergany, Egyptian sociologist and
chief author of the report, 2000
published by the UN development programmeme.
Perhaps another reason for Saudi Arabia's failure to train
up a labour force is simply habit. With its long traditions
Working and Doing Business in Saudi Arabia 207
of slavery, Saudis were accustomed to having the guest
workforce around. Peons were imported to perform low-
grade tasks in Saudi Arabia, even before oil was discovered.
Importing the highly-skilled workforce to build and operate
oilfields and processing facilities was merely an extension
of a habitual dependency.
Whatever the reasons, at the time of writing, Saudis
have made little progress in taking over the running of their
own country from their guest workforce. There are almost
certainly more expatriate workers in the private sector
workforce than Saudis, although reliable statistics are hard
to come by. Saudis have allowed this situation to drift along
for decades. They have been unable, one would have to say
they haven't tried very hard, to educate their own workforce
and develop their own expertise.
An interview in The Economist of 11 January 2003 recorded
the thoughts one of Saudi Arabia's 5,000 princes on his
country. "We are the most conservative country in the
world," he said. Commented The Economist on the prince's
remarks, 'with enforced Puritanism, medieval system of
governance and culture of secrecy, the kingdom appears
uniquely resistant to change.'
With change looking no more likely to happen than
ever, bright prospects for the guest workforce look set
to continue.
WILL YOU BE REPLACED BY A SAUDI?
One of the questions that might intrigue a visitor to Saudi
Arabia is this: here is a country which has imported an alien
workforce to perform tasks which in other countries provide
employment to the average person in the street. Wouldn't
this practice give rise to massive unemployment? What
do people do for a living when three-quarters of society's
normal occupations are removed and transferred to an
imported workforce?
One immediate reply is that half the people who would go
to work in most other countries are unable to do so in Saudi
Arabia for no better reason than they are women. But that
still leaves an available indigenous workforce of about six
208 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
million males aged 1 5-64, many of whom, according to the
scanty statistics available, appear to be out of work. Which
raises the question of how the local population spend their
time and get money to live.
What is the rate of unemployment in Saudi Arabia?
The CIA World Factbook's convenient summary of the
demographic statistics gives the unemployment figure for
Saudi Arabia as up to 25 per cent, while noting the true figure
is uncertain. For comparison, a statement from the Sixth
Development Plan (1 995-2000) states that the 'participation
rate [of Saudi nationals in the domestic labour market in
the mid-1990s]... is only 30.2 per cent." Other sources give
a similar impression of extremely high unemployment in
Saudi Arabia.
As an aside, it should be mentioned that this figure does
not include half the people who would go to work in other
countries but are unable to do so for no better reason than
that they are women. When assessing the unemployment
rate in Saudi Arabia, women are not included in the
calculations. If they were, unemployment would be around
80 per cent.
Unemployment in Saudi Arabia will almost certainly get
worse before it gets better. With nearly half the population of
Saudi nationals under 1 6 years old, youth unemployment—
already a considerable problem— seems likely to exacerbate
in the future as the young population bulge is discharged
from schools into the workforce.
Saudi Arabia has made desultory attempts to overcome
this problem without really addressing the underlying
issues that are causing unemployment in the first place.
The policy to get Saudis into work is embodied in the
phrase 'Saudisation of the workforce'. The Saudisation
programme, which has passed into legislation, requires
Saudi companies to increase the number of Saudi nationals
on their payroll by 5 per cent per year. Another measure
of the Saudisation programme is to offer free vocational
guidance and financial assistance for anyone wanting to
establish their own business. The Saudis have proclaimed
legislation that only Saudis could work in designated
Working and Doing Business in Saudi Arabia 209
industries such as selling gold and driving taxis. These laws
were fairly quickly rescinded when the targeted industries
degenerated, almost immediately, into chaos after guest
workers were replaced by Saudis with no job knowledge
and little inclination to work.
Various conflicts between the five pillars of Islam and the
modern world also compromise successful Saudisation. Even
something as simple as salat— the requirement to pray five
times a day— erodes productivity. Inshallah culture that God
will take care of the smallest details breeds indifference to
outcomes. The Wahhabi doctrine that no knowledge exists
outside the Qur'an inhibits the learning of commercially
useful skills. Only a massive change in the very cultural
fabric of society — in particular religion — is likely to improve
Saudisation performance. As long as religious studies
remain the central theme in education, Saudi Arabia is
unlikely to generate the skilled workforce it needs to run its
own country.
The Wrong Skills for the Job
"The companies who come to see us are looking for skilled workers,
business grads, engineers and technicians," said Nassir Salih al-
Homoud, director of an unemployment office in Burayday, a quiet
farming centre of 350,000 in central Saudi Arabia. Few Saudis qualify.
One of his clients is Abdulrahman al-Ali, 25. "I've been trying to find
a job for a year," said al-Ali. "When I submit an application, people
say they will call me, but they never do."
"The problem is his schooling." al Homoud comments. "Like many
Saudis, al-Ali has a bachelor's degree in Islamic philosophy.'"
—Source: 'Kingdom on Edge: Saudi Arabia',
National Geographic, October 2003.
The entire service industry, the biggest sector of most
economies, has proved difficult to staff from the local
workforce. An international retail chain embarked on a
programme to employ hundreds of Saudi Nationals. After
applications were received and processed, the company
found itself unable to engage a single Saudi. . The firm found
that young Saudi men are culturally attuned to being served,
not to serving.
210 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Likewise, Saudis are not normally interested in becoming
truck drivers, factory hands, manual labourers, domestic
servants, shop assistants and secretaries. And they do
not qualify in sufficient numbers to take most of the
jobs available as engineers, technicians, accountants
and doctors. Guest workers from both ends of the job
spectrum are imported into the kingdom to fill these jobs,
thereby filling most of the labour market needs across the
economy, from menial tasks that Saudis find undignified
and too poorly paid to highly skilled tasks that are too
technically demanding.
Potato MS VACANT
TOO TECHNICALLY
Employers have other reasons too for looking unkindly
on the products of the Saudisation programme. One
objection to hiring Saudis expressed by executives in a
Jeddah-based company is that Saudi nationals take many
more days off than their expat counterparts. Another is
that, under employment legislation applying to Saudis
(but not to the guest work force), once hired, a Saudi
Working and Doing Business in Saudi Arabia 211
cannot be fired. Another is the lack of obliging servility
that is expected from employees in the service industry. A
parallel objection from the unemployed Saudis themselves
is that pay rates for low-skilled jobs are very low. Unskilled
labour is cheap in Saudi Arabia, a country with no unions,
no labour laws and almost limitless competition for jobs
from applicants in countries as far afield as India, the
Philippines and Thailand.
Such has been the resistance from employers (who are as
often as not either members of the Royal Family or have royal
connections) that the government has had to back down on
its attempts at Saudisation. When companies complained
that they had to pay higher salaries to Saudis in return for
poorer standards of work, the government relaxed the rules
on hiring expatriates.
At the personal level, Saudis may feel a level of shame
about the inability of their nation to get its day's work done
without massive assistance. As a guest worker yourself, you
may occasionally experience resentment expressed by your
Saudi boss or your fellow employees. Saudis may get more
than usually touchy about your performance of the job you
have come to do. They may go to great lengths to explain to
you why they need your services in the country instead of
hiring a Saudi to do the job. This conversation is unlikely to
touch on the real reason why your services are required— the
clash of cultures between traditional Saudi beliefs and the
skill requirements of the real world. In the opinion of most
commentators, unless the Saudis fix their educational system,
of which your boss is probably a product, the country's
dependence on an expat workforce will most likely continue
as will Saudi sensitivity on the subject.
PERPETUAL TRAINEES
Industrialisation projects originally initiated by King
Faisal highlighted another aspect of Saudisation to one
of the authors. These projects aimed not only to develop
the physical infrastructure, but also the intellectual
infrastructure by endeavouring to create a highly trained
workforce of Saudis to take over future projects from the
212 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
expatriate workforce. To facilitate the transfer of skills, guest
workers were sat side-by-side with Saudi counterparts during
their time on the project. The trainer was the guest worker
and the trainee was a Saudi who, at some future period, was
expected to take over the guest worker's job.
This aspect of the Saudisation programme moved at glacial
speed since trainers and trainees shared a mutual disinterest
in the training objective. The guest worker didn't come to
Saudi Arabia to work himself out of a job. The Saudi trainee
didn't have an overwhelming desire to join the workforce.
At an individual level, the two parties could co-operate on a
mutually beneficial policy of preserving the status quo.
The training programme also suffered through the
lingering slave owner mentality of the trainees themselves.
Saudi trainees saw themselves as the client. They saw the
guest worker as the hourly hire. The slave-owner/slave
relationship was not the ideal arrangement for passing on
knowledge from the slave to the slave owner. Saudi trainees
were no more interested in receiving their training than the
expats were in providing it.
Trainees lacked an additional motivation to emerge from
their trainee role. Many saw themselves as perpetual students.
Given the opportunity to pursue a full-time career as a trainee,
Saudi trainees were forever agitating to be sent overseas to
undertake new university courses, preferably in the USA. One
expertise the trainees did develop was in the area of training
courses. Trainees queued up to participate in government-
sponsored overseas study courses, seemingly more by a desire
for an expenses-paid trip out of the country than to acquire
needed qualifications. There was always another course to
study, even for the trainee approaching middle age.
During your employment in the country, you may well find
your employer earnestly explaining to you the importance
of training a Saudi to take your place. Listen politely and say
you understand. Your predecessor probably had the same
conversation and so far nothing has happened. Thousands
of Saudis have been sent to the best overseas centres of
education that money can buy to acquire every piece of
knowledge their country can possibly need to make it run
Working and Doing Business in Saudi Arabia 213
like a Swiss watch. But guest workers continue to be imported
to do the work in greater numbers than ever before. There
are little signs at all that Saudis are becoming any more self-
sufficient than they ever were. Which probably means, so
far as the guest worker is concerned, the Saudi employment
bonanza will continue.
INSHALLAH: PHILOSOPHY OR CRUTCH?
A word that you will hear repeatedly in conversations between
Saudis is inshallah meaning 'if God wills it'. Inshallah embodies
the Arab philosophy of fatalism in the same way that manana
embodies the Latin philosophy of procrastination. Unlike
the Saudis themselves, the Saudi God is considered to be
tremendously industrious, getting involved in the minutiae
of every Muslim's life, making millions of decisions every
second of the day of the most mundane aspects. Under the
inshallah philosophy, believers may abandon all decision-
making to God, neatly rationalising their own work avoidance
as a violation of the Almighty's will.
Inshallah thinking can be a tremendous irritant to the
Western workforce. To holders of the Western work ethic,
inshallah culture borders on intellectual laziness. But in its
own context, inshallah thinking is a completely self consistent
system of belief. If God has already pre-ordained every aspect
of the future, planning ahead has no purpose. Why bother to
plan if the outcome has already been determined by a higher
being? In fact, planning ahead may be counterproductive.
God might have cause to feel put out by the interference of
man in the smooth unfolding of His future plans. On that
argument, the puny efforts of man to plan ahead could be
dangerous to one's spiritual health.
RELIGION IN THE WORKPLACE
The time that Saudis are obliged to devote to their religious
needs is considerable. Of the five daily prayer calls, three
are answered during the working day. Competition between
religious time and work time for Saudis at the workplace
can be exasperating for those from countries with a more
structured work culture.
214 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Saudis will stop what they are doing in order to attend prayers.
From the point of view of a guest worker in regular
contact with Saudis, the call to prayer during working hours
is a major disruption in the workplace. While it might seem
practicable to schedule work around prayer breaks, in the
manner of lunch breaks and meal breaks, this doesn't
seem to happen, perhaps for no better reason than prayer
calls are answered only by Muslims. Prayer calls leave
the normal working day highly fragmented. As an
alien guest worker you can be engaged is some deep and
meaningful conversation with your boss, your friend or
your bank manager when the muezzin or the loudspeaker
announces the time for prayers. On a construction site
you may be in the middle of a concrete pour. Whatever
the situation, Muslims will answer the call, stop work
and head for the nearest mosque, if there is one. (If
there isn't, prayers will still be conducted, but at an
alternative venue.)
Of the five prayer calls each day, the most disruptive
from a business point of view are those in mid-morning and
mid-afternoon. By the time participants have left the work
site, made it to the mosque (which under law should never
be more that 800 metres from every inhabited spot in the
Working and Doing Business in Saudi Arabia 215
country), offered their prayers, perhaps stopped to chat with
each other after proceedings in the mosque are completed,
and made it back to work, half an hour to 40 minutes will
have elapsed.
Praying on the Job
In the old days, before most of Saudi Arabia built its thousands of
mosques, prayer time devotions would be performed from a prayer
mat laid upon some level piece of ground. This is still the method for
those out of range of a mosque at prayer time. Even in the middle
of a business meeting, a prayer mat may be laid in a corner of the
office, and the meeting adjourned while Muslims present perform
their religious obligations and non-Muslims at the meeting look on.
When prayers are complete, prayer mats will be rolled up, and the
meeting will resume. (This arrangement takes less time and is less
disruptive to the business of the meeting than having half the meeting
attendees walk or drive to and from the nearest mosque.)
At whatever level you work in Saudi Arabia, the demands
of religion on the workplace will be felt. If you work for
a Saudi boss, religion will consume your boss's time. If
Saudis work for you, religion will consume the time of your
employees. From a business viewpoint, this aspect of religious
practice performed twice or three times in every working
day, must take its toll on the country's productivity and
economic competitiveness.
The effect of the prayer call is felt further afield than the
office. Prayers close down business operations across the
country two or three times per day. If you are in a shop when
the prayer call is heard, the shop may close and you may be
discharged onto the street. If you happen to make a badly-
timed visit to a restaurant and the prayer call is heard you
may be bundled outside between courses, or even halfway
through a course. If you are half way through a transaction
at a bank, you may have to return to complete the other
half about 45 minutes later. In addition to the massive loss
of time each day to religion, Saudis are very often late for
appointments anyway. So habitual is this practice it has
earned its own sobriquet — ma'esh time — which loosely
translated means late time.
216 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
All in all, despite occasional lip service to the contrary,
Saudis, by and large, are not greatly impressed by the
Western drive for getting things done in a hurry. Displays of
exasperation by guest workers at breaks in the flow of work
are not well regarded. It's not considered good form to show
displeasure if the attention of your Saudi colleague strays
from the subject under discussion. Stressed guest workers
might take a leaf out of the book of the Saudi hosts at this
juncture. It's not a bad idea to say to yourself as your work
slips from dangerously behind schedule to critical: inshallah,
this is the way things are in this part of the world. Life unfolds
to a pattern determined by a higher being. Schedules that
don't work out are not merely the fault of man: they are also
the will of God.
EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS
Arab culture is not really one that sets great store by the letter
of the law. Arabs are unlikely to have quite such the same
regard for contracts as their Western counterparts. This is
one of the major cultural differences between west and east
that has frustrated many a westerner more accustomed to a
society that operates according to written rules.
In their negotiations Saudis expect to do lots of talking
and lots of bargaining. They expect their negotiating partners
to do the same. However even though an agreement is
eventually reached, the terms of a written contract may mean
little in the event of a conflict. In an arrangement that is not
working out to the advantage of the Saudi partner, you are
likely to find that your partner may try to change the terms
of the contract without notice, and quite possibly without
your knowledge. Saudis don't expect to expend their energies
debating points of law about the changes they propose.
Arabs are traders and have been for a long time. To them a
written contract may be regarded more as an expression of
the intention at a point in time rather than a hard and fast
arrangement. After the written contract is signed, they will
still be inclined to talk and bargain.
Whether your employment contract or business contract
is worth the paper it is written on depends mainly on the
Working and Doing Business in Saudi Arabia 217
co-operation of the Saudi partner. In the event of a dispute,
Saudi law may offer little protection to foreigners, either
collectively or individually. Collectively, Saudi Arabia has
refused to sign a number of international agreements,
including labour agreements. Individually, a Saudi can
generally rely on the courts to support his version of events
in a disagreement with his foreign partner to the contract.
The terms of a written contract are most likely to be upheld
in Saudi Arabia if the contracting partner is a large foreign
company. Next best is a foreign-Saudi partnership. If you
have contracted to a fully-owned Saudi business, the smaller
the business, the less the entitlements you feel are yours
under your employment contract are likely to be understood
by your Saudi partner or employer. In the Saudi Arabian
small business world, written contracts are neither widely
understood, nor highly regarded.
In addition, when argued in court, elements of the
contract, particularly those relating to payment, may be
illegal under Shariah Law if in the opinion of the judges
it infringes on some interpretation of the Qur'an. In this
case, provisions of the Qur'an will prevail over those of
the contract.
218 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
People working in domestic duty are in the weakest
situation of all. They may well be asked to work
16-18 hour days without holidays or days off. They may
or may not be paid at the agreed rate. Whether they get
paid at all is at the discretion of the employer. If they are
female, or even if they are male, they may be pressured to
grant sexual favours. The embassies of countries like the
Philippines have had little success at protecting the
rights of the citizens working in Saudi Arabia. Whatever
goodwill the employees might enjoy from their employers
is entirely based on the personal relationships that
are forged.
Paying off the Agent
Workers from the Third World are particularly vulnerable to
mistreatment by their Saudi bosses. Despite the hazards and
discomforts, competition for jobs in Saudi Arabia is high, even
though written contracts of employment are onerous. Workers are
normally recruited in their home countries by employment agents
who make their own arrangements with Saudi officials issuing work
visas. According to a UN report on the subject, such agents typically
charge their clients extravagant 'processing fees'. Cases have been
cited of Asian nationals paying engagement fees of up to two years
wages payable to their agent before they see any money of their
own. Nevertheless, guest workers accept these terms. When they've
paid off their agents, as often as not, they will remit most of their
earnings to home base to finance their extended families back home.
Such are the economic exigencies of the Third World that there
is no shortage of applicants for positions carrying onerous terms
of employment.
Occasionally people may wish to change employers while
working in the country. Since work visas are issued by your
existing employer, this is only possible with the cooperation
of the three parties involved in the transaction— your existing
employer, your new employer and the Saudi government.
Not only do you need your employer's permission to
leave the country, you need his permission to leave his
employment — a process that can take months even with
willingness on both sides. Switching employers in Saudi
Arabia is difficult but not impossible.
Working and Doing Business in Saudi Arabia 219
Building Regulations and the Qur'an
After construction of the new Saudi city in Jubail was underway,
the Mutawa'een paid a visit to the engineering drawing office. After
inspecting the project drawings, the Mutawa'een ordered that all
layout drawings of the project should also include an arrow showing
the direction of Mecca, which happened to lie approximately WSW
on this particular project. This direction arrow was duly added to
drawings without too much difficulty.
However, trouble was to follow. A little while later, the Mutawa'een
paid another visit to demand that no sewage could flow in the
direction of the Mecca arrow (sewage flowing towards Mecca would
have been considered insulting to Islam). The engineers then sat down
to figure out how this requirement could be met without tearing up
most of the work done so far.
Technically complying with the requirement wasn't possible.
Streets and the pipes they contained ran in all directions. The
engineers considered and rejected various arguments. That no other
cities in Saudi Arabia complied with this requirement was rejected
as a defence on the grounds that rules of precedent were a foreign
concept to Saudi law. There was, of course, no point in disputing
the relevant text in the Qur'an, the interpretation of which the
Mutawa'een themselves were the world's leading experts. Instead,
the engineers opted for the Non-Flat Earth Defence. The engineers
argued that since the Earth was round and since Mecca was about
800 km from Jubail, nothing constructed horizontal or near horizontal
could, on a three-dimensional view of the world, be considered as
pointing in the direction of a town well over the horizon. Against most
expectations, the Mutawa'een bought this explanation. Nothing in
the Qur'an said the earth was flat! Engineers drew a collective sigh
of relief and construction work continued.
But the Mutawa'een later returned. They had considered
the three-dimensional view of the universe, they said, and were
concerned about the orientation of toilets inside the houses of the
new town. When pressed for details, the Mutawa'een explained
their concern about the direction of flow of sewage in the act of
using the toilets. They pointed out that, at some part in its trajectory
would inevitably be in the direction of Mecca! They suggested
that construction work be put on hold while engineers considered
this problem.
A number of meetings were held at which the trajectory of
urination was debated at some length, but no solution could be
suggested. Cost engineers were summoned to estimate the cost of
re-orientating the direction of those toilets in houses, which pointed
WSW. Earnest discussions were held on what direction of toilet, in
which the plumbing was vertical actually meant. No conclusion was
reached. Construction proceeded cautiously while the next visit from
the Mutawa'een was awaited. But they never returned, at least not
to pursue this issue. They had made their point.
In Saudi Arabia, the Qur'an rules and the clerics interpret it.
220 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
COMMERCIAL LAW
Since the Qur'an was written in the 7th century ad, many
of the matters the law has to interpret were not in existence
when the basis of the law was written. When one considers
what wasn't around when the Prophet lived his life — running
water, sewerage, cars, telephones, paper and so on— it is
some minor miracle that modern society run to the rules of
Shariah Law can operate at all.
One of the difficulties with the commercial side of
doing business in Saudi Arabia has been that Islam isn't
really comfortable with the notion of paying interest on
loans. Those lending money to Saudi institutions should be
wary. Borrowers who default on their interest payments
may escape their interest obligations on the grounds of
that, under Shariah Law, the lender's loan was illegal in
the first place.
Islam is also uncomfortable with the notion of insurance
on the grounds that actuarial science can be interpreted as
a form of gambling, which is against the tenets of Islam.
The impossibility of hedging normal business risks can also
increase the difficulty of doing business in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi authorities recognise and are making some
attempt to overcome the country's cultural conflicts
between religion and normal business practice in the
modern commercial world. The Government has created
Special Tribunals tasked with the job of finding ways to
circumnavigate the more restrictive aspects of Shariah Law
and keep the wheels of industry turning. These Special
Tribunals now hear most commercial law cases ranging
from breach of contract suits to trade mark infringement
and labour disputes.
To overcome the theological objection to insurance, a form
of co-operative insurance known as takaful (under which
resources are pooled to help the needy) has been around
for centuries. Takaful casts the insured in the role of the
potentially needy, and thereby overcomes the objection to
acturial calculations by regarding the insured as a recipient of
charity. Other forms of insurance are also gradually becoming
accepted. For example, third party insurance to provide diya
Working and Doing Business in Saudi Arabia 221
payments to road accident victims is now compulsory. A
social insurance system was recently introduced, aimed at
looking after the health care and other social needs of Saudi
citizens in private business. Subscription under this scheme
is voluntary, set at 1 8 per cent of the employee's salary, and
shared 50:50 between employer and employee. A parallel
compulsory insurance scheme for expat workers is also
operating to oblige employers to provide health insurance
for their employees.
INCOME TAX
The Shariah Law rules on income tax is good news for guest
workers. The Qur'an, according to the clerics, prohibits the
levying of income tax. But, as the kingdom sank deeper
into deficit in the 1980s and 1990s, the interpretation
of the Qur'an prohibiting income tax came under
cautious scrutiny.
Saudi Arabia's objection to income tax was not merely
religious. It was also political. Most people are quite
aware of the extravagances of the House of Saud. If these
extravagances were financed by oil money, that was thought
to be one thing. If they were financed from the pockets of
citizens, it might be quite another. To date, given their tribal
cultural background, Saudi Arabians had not worried all
that much about their lack of voting rights. But imposing
taxes was thought likely to raise the argument: 'no taxation
without representation'.
At the date of writing, Saudi Arabia is one of few countries
which has never had to levy income tax. As a result of King
Faisal's far-sighted policy in 1 970 of wresting Saudi oil from
the hands of major oil companies, Saudi Arabia owns its
own resources. The country now lives almost entirely off the
earnings of its oil company Aramco. Public revenue derived
from this source has risen and fallen over the years with
the oil price. After the oil price rises from 2003 onwards,
pressures to increase government revenue through income
tax abated. The government could once more finance its
operations through oil revenue. Discussions about income
tax were quietly shelved.
222 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
In terms of tax, as things stand at the moment, income
earned by guest workers in Saudi Arabia remains untaxed
and this arrangement looks likely to stand for the immediate
future. Shariah Law states that one-fortieth of personal assets
(zakat), an effective wealth tax of 2.5 per cent is meant to be
given to charity. This is a voluntary arrangement based on
religious beliefs and is not applied to the guest workforce.
NEGATIVE COMMENT
Issuing and receiving criticism is a tricky subject in any
culture. The human race doesn't vary all that much in this
area. No one, no matter what nation they belong to, enjoys
being criticised. But it's probably fair to say that criticism
of Saudis by members of their guest workforce has to be
handled with unusual sensitivity. Candid criticism of a Saudi
by a Westerner can quite easily be interpreted as a personal
insult. A Saudi should never be criticised directly, or even
to a third party. In the area of criticism and personal pride,
Saudi culture is Eastern. Face matters. Face lost may never
be regained. Criticism needs to be delivered indirectly, and
never in front of others, and so circumspectly (amongst
much praise and thanking for small favours) that it is
scarcely noticeable.
If you have bad news to tell your Saudi boss, it should be
delivered in such a way that there is no suggestion that a
Saudi is responsible. A good technique is to first praise your
Saudi boss for his business acumen and then to attribute the
unpleasant news to bad luck. The more your boss convinces
himself that your bad news is the will of Allah and not human
error, the more easily the problem is likely to be resolved.
GETTING ON WITH THE BOSS
Those going to Saudi Arabia to run businesses inside Saudi
Arabia with Saudi partners and subject to Saudi law are
advised to check out their intended partners very carefully.
If you're working for a Saudi Arabian company, obtaining
and nourishing the goodwill of your Saudi sponsor is all
important. Falling out with one's Saudi partners usually
results in financial loss, whatever the legal rights and wrongs
Working and Doing Business in Saudi Arabia 223
of the issue. Generally, if a contract is terminated, deportation
from the kingdom follows, on the grounds that the reason for
your being issued a visa in the first place is no longer valid.
Worse than deportation, in the experience of some, is the
incarceration inside the country on some trumped up charge.
Serious breakdown of relations between Saudis and their
expatriate employees have led to some extraordinary escape
stories when employers refused to return the passports of
their employees or grant them exit visas. When all other
avenues were closed to them, expat employees in conflict
with their Saudi employers have been known to freight
themselves out of the country as sea or air cargo— rolled up
in a Persian rug, or nailed up inside a packing case!
Collecting from Royalty
In a widely publicised case in 1986, a US citizen and businessman
Sam Bamieh went to Saudi Arabia to collect money owed to him by
a business associate of the House of Saud. On arrival in Saudi Arabia,
the Saudi creditors promptly had Bamieh thrown into jail in Jeddah
without charge— and there he probably would have stayed except
that he was able to get his plight known all the way up to the State
Department who got him released.
On return to the US (without his money) Bamieh, a determined
character, sued the Saudi Royal family for wrongful arrest and got
enormous publicity. As the case moved through the courts, Bamieh
managed to implicate the House of Saud in scandals as widely
separated as the Nicaraguan Contras affair, the Bank of Credit
and Commerce International, and financing political movements
in Afghanistan, Somalia and the Sudan. Bameih had the money
and resolve to make a nuisance of himself to both the Saudis and
the US State Department. To avoid further unwanted negative
publicity, the Saudis offered an out of court settlement which
Bamieh accepted.
Employees can also fall foul of disagreements between
governments. Despite long periods of residence, it is not
easy for non-Saudi Arabs to become Saudi citizens. Saudi
Arabia retains the right to deport its long-term immigrants
back to their country of origin at a moment's notice. In the
last ten years, this right has been exercised at various times
when the policy of these other countries departed from
Saudi policy.
224 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
During the first Gulf War, the Republic of Yemen supported
Iraq. Approximately 850,000 Yemenis, many who had been
in Saudi Arabia for decades, found themselves suddenly
deported to a Yemen with which they had cut all ties. In
Saudi Arabia, this action devastated the retail industry, where
Yemenis tend to concentrate. In addition, the Republic of
Yemen then had to cope with the sudden influx of nearly a
million economic refugees it thought had left its lands forever.
Palestinians and Jordanians, whose governments were also
sympathetic to Iraq, faced similar problems for the same
reason. Palestinians who had relocated their lives in Saudi
Arabia were not welcome back after the war ended. Recruits
from places like India and Egypt were admitted to fill the jobs
that Palestinians had vacated.
WHO'S IN BUSINESS
The aristocracy of Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest in
the world. If you operate anywhere near VIP level, you
have a better chance of meeting royalty in Saudi Arabia
than almost any other country. Some of the minor blue
bloods operate at quite modest levels in the corporate and
administrative hierarchies.
In Saudi Arabia, government and private ownership
merges imperceptibly. Unlike other countries, no distinct
boundary separates the private sector and the government.
Since they have access to the almost unlimited funds of
the Royal Treasury and are inclined to involve themselves
in commercial activities, members of the Royal Family
engage in all sorts of businesses. The Royal Family may own
businesses in their own right, or in partnership with other
people, either Saudi citizens or foreigners. Measured by
extent of Royal Family shareholdings, in the mid-1990s, the
Saudi government owned about two-thirds of the business
interests of the country.
At the less regal level, people in Saudi Arabia tend to accept
their lot in life to a greater degree than some other cultures.
The frantic struggle to rise to the top of the heap is not quite as
evident in Saudi Arabia as other parts of the world. However,
there are exceptions. Despite the natural advantages in capital
Working and Doing Business in Saudi Arabia 225
and connections of the aristocracy, heroic rise to fame and
fortune of the workingman is not unheard of.
Pipeline Welder Makes Good
Sulieman S Olayan started his life as a pipe welder on a Saudi oil rig. In
a chance encounter with a member of Aramco's senior management
who was one day making an inspection of his company's oil rig,
Olayan offered his services as a sub-contractor to Aramco. The
Aramco manager gave Olayan his chance. From this small beginning,
the Olayan Group of companies grew to what has become one of
the largest and most diversified and profitable businesses in the
country; among many other things, selling Coca-Cola and Burger
King franchises throughout the kingdom. Olayan is a typical large
diversified Saudi Arabian company with interests in everything from
catering to heavy construction and petrochemicals. Wherever you
go in Saudi Arabia, an Olayan company can supply you something.
In a similar story, the bin Laden family, now the biggest contractor
in Saudi Arabia with operations also in the US, started as a minor
contractor after Osama bin Laden's father crossed the border as
penniless emigrant from Yemen.
Until the mid-1980s, Saudi Arabia maintained controlling
interests for all businesses operated inside the country.
Foreign companies were permitted to operate in the country
in partnership with Saudi firms, provided their partnership
holdings were 49 per cent or less. In the mid- 1 990s, as the
oil price plunged, the country needed increasing amounts of
foreign investment to balance its books. Foreign ownership
rules were relaxed. Areas identified as needing foreign
investment were telecoms, utilities and financial services.
Changing Rules for Control of Hydrocarbons
In 2000, a Royal Decree was issued to allow 100 per cent foreign-
owned businesses to operate in the country. Multinational companies
including Exxon, Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Phillips Petroleum set
up operations in the kingdom. This was a watershed event in a country
that had previously wrested control of the country's oilfields back from
the oil majors during the 1970s and 1980s. The Economist magazine,
a fervent believer in free markets, commented at the time on the new
measure: 'The most significant initiative is a US$ 25 billion scheme
to attract oil majors into three huge natural gas projects...'
226 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
At a more personal level, Saudi Arabia remains a country
where guest workers as individuals are denied the opportunity
of embarking on a business for themselves. Guest workers are
normally bound by their visa conditions which are specific
to a particular employer and maybe to a particular job. For
those determined to set themselves up in business, a Saudi
partner will be required to organise permissions and lodge
the appropriate paperwork.
Overseas businesses small and large have established
operations in Saudi Arabia in large numbers in recent
times. Investment attractive features of the Saudi business
environment include generally good infrastructure, an
entrepreneurial culture, minimal currency risk (the Riyal
is tied to the US dollar), unregulated currency controls and
a liberal tax system. Most businesses bring with them key
members of their labour force.
CORRUPTION
In some quarters, Saudi Arabia has a reputation for corruption,
but no more so than the average of many other countries.
In its '2006 Corruption Index', Transparency International—
the international organisation dedicated to fighting
corruption— ranked Saudi Arabia as the 79th least corrupt
country from 1 79 countries surveyed.
Handling the Critics
Saudi authorities are sensitive about corruption allegations whatever
their source. In 2002, Arab News reported that the Saudi authorities
arrested a Saudi poet, Abdul Mohsen al-Muslim, who had written a
poem in which he alleged corruption of the judiciary. The editor of
the Saudi daily al-Madina, which published the poem was fired from
his job Abdul Mohsen was arrested and 'interrogated ... for a long
time about his poem' by high ranking security officers. In 2003, the
authorities conducted a major purge of clerics to weed out those who
were critical of the administration.
An ongoing bone of contention between the clerics and
the Royal Family is corruption in government, meaning the
Royal Family itself. Allegations of corruption in the judiciary
have also been raised. The most widely reported instances
Working and Doing Business in Saudi Arabia 227
of major corruption are in relation to large arms purchases
where payments of 'commissions' to princes holding
ministerial positions are an accepted and expected way of
doing business.
At the day-to day-level, our experience is that Saudis are
pretty honest. Not much gets pilfered. Perhaps deterrence
offered by the legal system is working. No one wants to lose
a hand for an act of petty theft. An American guest worker in
the kingdom has recorded on the Internet a typical experience
of the culture of honesty regarding private property:
'Returning to Saudi Arabia after a vacation, my wife and I
inadvertently left one of our many suitcases on the sidewalk
outside the airport while we were loading them into the car.
After the weekend, we asked a company driver to see if it had
been turned in to lost-and-found. The driver returned with
the bag. Airport security told the driver it sat on the sidewalk
for two days. When no one picked it up, a policeman brought
it to lost-and-found. Try leaving your bag on the platform in
the New York subway for two days!'
FURTHER INFORMATION ON
BUSINESS CONTACTS
For those who intend to do business in Saudi Arabia, advice
can be obtained from The Saudi Chambers of Commerce
and Industry which has offices in major urban centres of
the kingdom. A list of Saudi distributors for most products
imported into the kingdom can be obtained from these
Chambers of Commerce. In addition, credit reports can be
obtained on prospective Saudi business partners.
The Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry offices
also offer an advertising service (for a fee) for those seeking
Saudi representatives for their products or services. An
Agent/Distributor Service is also available to identify the
Saudi Arabian firms best suited to represent your products
in the kingdom. In addition, the World Traders Data Report
can be obtained to evaluate the performance of potential
trading partners. After you have drawn up a short list of
suitable representatives, you might be advised to visit Saudi
Arabia to interview your candidates. For this purpose, you
228 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
can obtain a short visit business visa, valid for one to three
months, via a Saudi Arabian approved travel agent or through
a Saudi Arabian consulate or diplomatic mission. For further
information contact your Saudi Arabian Royal Embassy or
Consulate or Diplomatic Mission. For contact details for the
Chambers of Commerce go to:
http://www.saudichambers.org.sa/index.html.
By law, prospective exporters of goods or services to
Saudi Arabia, or firms or individuals wishing to do business
in the kingdom need to appoint a Saudi Arabian partner, an
import agent or a local representative to handle their business
inside the kingdom. Since a great deal of the business in the
kingdom is done through personal contacts rather than formal
tender processes, such an arrangement is needed anyway to
operate successfully inside Saudi Arabia. A local network of
contacts is all important to realise exporters' ambitions.
It should be noted that companies that deal with Israel
may be restricted from operating in Saudi Arabia. Two of the
biggest brand names that found themselves unable to operate
in Saudi Arabia for many years were Ford and Coca Cola.
Levi's is just one of the foreign companies that is allowed to operate in
Saudi Arabia.
Working and Doing Business in Saudi Arabia 229
THE BUREAUCRACY
Saudi Arabia's bureaucracies are no better than many and
quite a bit worse than some. Like many a developing country,
Saudi Arabia has an insatiable appetite for documentation,
and requires submission of a bewildering array of licence
application forms to permit you to undertake the most trivial
activities. You get a flavour of the bureaucratic culture on
first entering the Saudi Arabia. Officials tend to be officious.
Paperwork is extensive. Space provided on the many forms
that need to be completed seems to bear little relationship
to the volume of data requested.
An important function of the bureaucracy in Saudi Arabia
seems is to provide employment for otherwise unemployable
Saudi Arabians. The Saudi bureaucracy is the one area of
the economy in which Saudis are isolated from competition
from foreign labour for the simple reason that only Saudi
citizens are permitted to work for the Saudi civil service.
Guest workers who can work as consultants advising the
Saudi government on their bureaucracy, cannot work within
the bureaucracy itself. In fact, employment in the Saudi
Civil Service is discriminatory even within Saudi Arabians.
Members of the Shia sect, for example, are not normally
hired for civil service positions.
From the point of view of the foreigner, Saudi bureaucracy
is widespread, all embracing and on occasions, almost
impenetrable. For example, while in Saudi Arabia, one
of the authors decided to buy a windsurfer to sail in the
fresh breezes of the Persian Gulf. This turned out to be
no simple transaction of paying the money and collecting
the goods. The retailer selling the craft explained (after
the money had been paid) that the law required him to
sight a copy of the boat licence before the goods could
be delivered. In Saudi Arabia, he said, a windsurfer is
treated like a boat and every boat must have a licence
issued by the Department of Licences. He explained where
the office issuing the licence was located. A trip to the
designated office confirmed his account. Catch 22 was
that the boat licence could only be issued after inspection
of the boat, the boat could only be released by the vendor
230 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
on presentation of the licence, and the boat inspector
was not permitted, or willing, to visit the premises of the
retailer to carry out an inspection.
With matters gridlocked at this point, the author returned
to the shop. After pleading with the retailer, and leaving a
gold watch in the shop as security against proper issue of the
licence, the goods were released into the buyer's custody on a
temporary basis. The 'boat' was loaded onto the roof rack on
the top of the car then driven to the Department of Licences.
From there it was taken to the Harbour authority where it
could be measured. A form was produced, written around a
passenger-carrying vessel the size of QE2. The form asked
about the number of crew, the number of engines and their
size, the gross registered tonnage, the number of lifeboats
and so forth. Legally registered sailboards in Saudi Arabia,
according to this form, are meant to carry lights, flares and
an impressive array of life preserving equipment!
The author filled out the form and submitted it to the
official along with a fee (as always paid in cash). The official
scanned the form, and didn't seem over-concerned about
the absence of lifeboats and lifebelts, then asked where the
Working and Doing Business in Saudi Arabia 231
boat was moored. Told that it was on the roof-rack of a car
parked outside, the official shrugged, but co-operated and
solemnly ran his tape measure over the boat and entered
the results (2.5 m / 10 ft) as the waterline length of the boat.
Back in the office, the official duly signed and stamped
the form explaining it would need to be presented to the
Department of Licences, as it wasn't the licence but merely
a measurement certificate that would enable the licence to
be issued!
The author had been in Saudi Arabia long enough to
recognise the process. No one bureaucrat can explain the
entire procedure. Each bureaucrat would explain a fragment
and the customer would gradually piece the fragments
together to make the whole picture. At each step of the
procedure, a small amount of money (always cash) would
change hands. Saudi bureaucracy isn't merely a licensing
authority. It's an industry.
Back at the Department of Licences, the official accepted
the measurement certificate and commenced filling out the
licence form with the name of the vessel (which had to be
displayed in letters at least 150mm high on both sides of
the bow and across the stern). The official also explained
that sailing a windsurfer legally in the waters of Saudi Arabia
would also require issue of a master's licence issued by the
Department of Coastguard! The author didn't bother with
that. But occasionally, watchers at the security gate of the
compound reported personnel from the coastguard en route
to the beach to check the paperwork of the sailing fraternity.
No one, to my knowledge, managed to complete the entire
paper trail and most never even start.
SRUDI RRRBIR
RT R GLRNCe
'Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend,
Before we too into the Dust descend.'
—Omar Khayyam
Saudi Arabia at a Glance 233
Official Name
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Capital
Riyadh
Flag
The modern state of Saudi Arabia was created in 1932.
Adopted on Saudi Arabia's assumption of nationhood, the
Saudi national flag was based on the banner of the Wahhabi
234 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
tribe, and features the Islamic inscription or shahad on a
green field (the symbolic colour of Islam). The inscription
read: 'There is no God but God and Muhammad is the
Messenger of God'. The first Saudi king, Abdul Aziz bin
Abdul Rahman Al Saud (Ibn Saud), added a sword to this
flag in 1 902 after he established himself as the King of Nejd
in central Saudi Arabia. As a variation on this theme, the
modern Saudi Arabian flag was introduced only in 1 973. The
inscription, which was unchanged from the previous flag,
and its underlying icon of a sword encapsulates the essence
of Saudi Arabia: this is a religious state supported by the
power of the sword. Such is the deference to the message
on the Saudi flag that when Fadh died in 2005 at the age of
83, though flags were dropped to half mast in many Arab
capitals, they were not lowered in Riyadh on the grounds that
doing so would have been tantamount to blasphemy.
National Anthem
Aash Al Maleek ('Long Live Our Beloved King')
Time
Greenwich Mean Time plus 3 hours (GMT + 0300)
Telephone Country Code
966
Land
Located in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is bordered by
Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait to the north; Bahrain, Qatar, the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman to the east and
south-east; and Yemen to the south. The Red Sea separates
Saudi Arabia from Africa to the west while the Persian Gulf
separates it from Iran in the east.
Area
total: 1 ,960,582 sq km (756,985 sq miles)
Highest Point
Jabal Sawda' (3,133 m / 10,279 ft)
Saudi Arabia at a Glance 235
Climate
Desert climate with extremes of temperature
Natural Resources
Copper, gold, iron ore, natural gas and petroleum
Population
28,400,000 including 5,500,000 non-nationals (2008 est)
Ethnic Groups
Arab (90 per cent) and Afro- Asian (10 per cent)
Religion
Predominantly Muslim
Official Language
Arabic
Government Structure
Monarchy
Adminstrative Divisions
13 provinces: Al Bahah, Al Hudud ash Shamaliyah, Al Jawf,
Al Madinah, Al Qasim, Ar Riyad, Ash Sharqiyah (Eastern
Province), Asir, Ha'il, Jizan, Makkah, Najran, Tabuk
Currency
Saudi riyal (SAR)
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
US$ 375.5 billion (2007 est)
Agricultural Products
Barley, citrus, maize, sorghum, dates, melons, tomatoes
and wheat
Other Products
Chickens, eggs, milk and mutton
Saudi Arabia at a Glance 237
Industries
Ammonia, basic petrochemicals, caustic soda, cement,
commercial aircraft repair, commercial ship repair,
construction, crude oil production, fertiliser, industrial gases,
petroleum refining and plastics
Exports
Petroleum and petroleum products
Imports
Chemicals, equipment, foodstuffs, machinery, motor vehicles
and textiles
Airports
Estimated total of 21 3, of which 77 have paved runways. The
main international airport is in Riyadh.
Weights and Measures
Saudi Arabia has adopted the metric system of measurement.
Petrol is measured in litres (one US gallon = 3.86 litres),
distances are measured in kilometres (one mile = 1.6
kilometres) or metres (1 metre = 3.28 feet) and weights are
measured in kilogrammes (2.2 pounds). For those buying
gold— a favoured pursuit in the souqs of Saudi Arabia— the
conversion is one ounce = 28 grams.
FAMOUS PEOPLE OF SAUDI ARABIA
King Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud
(better known to some as Ibn Saud)
Ibn Saud's achievement was to create modern day Saudi
Arabia. The Al Saud family, originated in the Najd area
around present-day Riyadh. As an adolescent, Ibn Saud saw
his family bundled out of Riyadh by their rivals, the Rushidis,
eventually finding sanctuary near present day-Kuwait. To
Ibn Saud, then 21 , banishment at the hands of the Rushidis
was a matter of honour. In 1 901 , he set out to retake Riyadh
from the Rushidis. Thirty years later, he had brought most
of the Arabian Peninsula under his control.
238 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
World Leaders and Ibn Saud
Ibn Saud was a tall, strong, charistmatic warrior with a reputation for
mercilessness. Though uneducated in the modern sense, he learned
the ways of the world from personal experience, meeting heads of
state like President Franklin D Roosevelt — who he liked — and Winston
Churchill whose drinking habits he couldn't abide.
Said Churchill, giving his take on his meeting with Ibn Saud, "My
rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars
and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during
all meals and in the intervals between them." (from Triumph and
Tragedy by Winston Churchill)
Apart from military campaigns, Ibn Saud employed more
personal methods to unite the country. Under Islamic law,
a man was allowed four wives at any one time and could
divorce any wife of his choosing in less than a minute, no
questions asked. Ibn Saud practised short term marriages
and instant divorces on a grand scale. Before setting off on
his military campaigns, he would divorce at least one of his
wives— reducing his quota of wives left at home base to three
or less and often taking concubines with him to assuage
his grief for the loss of his least favoured wife. Later, after
conquering a town or a tribe, he would summon the head
of the newly conquered people to produce a suitable wife.
In thirty years, after countless skirmishes with the many
tribes of the country, opinions vary on how many women
Ibn Saud married. Some authorities estimate the number
at a modest 40 while others have it as 300-400. Ibn Saud
himself probably didn't keep accurate records. From his
wives, collected and discarded, Ibn Saud produced a great
many children who, a generation later, created a Royal Family
numbering thousands. Inclined to boast of his sexual prowess,
(and, in his later years, attended by armies of doctors
prescribing aphrodisiacs), Ibn Saud once proudly claimed
that he had never seen the face of many of his brides. They
would arrive in abayas, spend their one-night marriage in his
tent, then depart before the first prayer call the next morning.
During the course of his life, from 1 7 different wives, Ibn Saud
fathered a known 44 sons — 35 of whom were still alive on
his death— and an unknown number of daughters.
Saudi Arabia at a Glance 239
Until he reached his mid-50s, Ibn Saud was perpetually
short of money. He understood the potential of oil to change
his country's fortunes and encouraged investment in the oil
industry. In his last few years, oil made him extraordinarily
wealthy. He died in 1 953 at the age of 73. Ibn Saud is one of
the few people in history to name a country after himself.
King Faisal
Faisal was born in Riyadh in 1 905, the fourth son of Ibn Saud.
Like his father before him, Faisal spent his early adulthood
as a desert warrior. In 1925, Faisal and his supporters won
a decisive victory in the Hijaz region of Saudi Arabia. He
was appointed the Governor of Hijaz in 1926. When Saudi
Arabia coalesced as a nation in 1932, Faisal was appointed
Foreign Minister. The issue that most absorbed him in this
role was the partition of Palestine, of which he disapproved.
After Ibn Saud died, Faisal's older brother Saud came to the
throne. Faisal continued to serve as a minister, gradually
increasing his responsibilities. After a decade in which the
country declined economically, the family engineered the
abdication of King Saud who had proved to be a spendthrift
and, in 1 964, placed Faisal on the throne.
Before becoming king, Faisal became involved in
arrangements for the pricing of oil. Over the last few years of
the 1950s, the seven oil companies operating in the Middle
East, nicknamed the 'Seven Sisters' had closed ranks to
reduce their royalty payments to oil supplying countries. In
his role as Foreign Minister, Faisal reached an arrangement
with other oil exporting countries to control the production
of oil. The five countries— Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
and Venezuela— met on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad
and formed OPEC (the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting
Countries). Later, other oil exporting countries joined OPEC's
ranks. OPEC has probably been the only successful cartel the
world has ever seen for a major commodity.
During the same period, back at home in Saudi Arabia,
Faisal took one other measure to secure his country's long-
term oil future. He progressively increased his control of
Aramco from the international oil companies. These two
240 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
measures have produced a very different financial situation
in Saudi Arabia today than it otherwise would have been.
Revenues from the Saudi oil company Aramco have
been sufficient to finance most of the country's financial
operations, without the assistance of taxes.
In 1 973, the last of the Arab/Israeli wars was fought— the
Yom Kippur War won by Israel. The US lent critical support
to Israel during the war by emergency airlifting massive
amounts of military equipment. King Faisal showed his
disapproval of this US action by boycotting oil supplies. The
price of oil rose 400 per cent almost immediately, in what
economists of the West later termed 'the first oil shock'.
(The second oil shock occurred six years later in 1979,
during the revolution in Iran). Most economists consider the
oil shock a major factor in precipitating a lower period of
economic growth in the West in the 1 970s, along with high
inflation. From the Saudi perspective, the era of high oil prices
had the opposite effect as inflated oil revenues flowed into
the kingdom.
Faisal's other major economic measure was to develop
and modernise his country by investing its oil revenue in
industrial development projects based on Saudi Arabia's
advantage in obtaining cheap hydrocarbons from its oil and
gas fields. A number of industrial plants have been built to
produce petroleum derivative products such as synthetic
fertilisers and petrochemicals.
Most commentators consider King Faisal by far the most
capable of Saudi Arabia's kings. Faisal was named Time
magazine's Man of the Year in 1974. But in 1975, his rule
came to an end when he was assassinated — shot three times
in the face from close range by one of his nephews.
Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani
Sheik Yamani was King Faisal's charismatic Oil Minister
who became the face of OPEC during the 1 970s and 1 980s.
He was born in Mecca in 1930, where he grew up. He
obtained his first degree in law from Cairo University
in 1951 and a master's degree in law from New York
University in 1955. He then graduated from Harvard Law
Saudi Arabia at a Glance 241
School in 1 956. In 1 958, he became an advisor to the Saudi
government. Working closely with King Faisal, Yamani was
appointed as oil minister in 1962, an office he held with
great distinction.
During the 1 970s, when the price of oil was of interest to
most people, Yamani became the spokesperson for OPEC.
In this role, with his goatee beard, his diplomatic skills and
his smooth delivery, he became one of the most recognisable
people on the planet. The soft-spoken Yamani was a great
favourite with the press.
OPEC, by its nature, was an organisation driven by
the internal tensions of its various competing nations.
Its operatons were based on member nations agreeing
to production quotas that were unenforceable by the
organisation itself, and were frequently exceeded. To the
consuming countries of the world, OPEC was depicted as a
malevolent force dedicated to undermining their economies.
Despite the pressures, internal and external, the considerable
diplomatic skills of Yamani maintained OPEC as a cogent
economic force.
In 1975, in a bizarre escapade, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez,
better known to the world as 'Carlos the Jackal', staged
a highjack of OPEC representatives, including Yamani,
who were holding a regular meeting in the organisation's
headquarters in Vienna. While Carlos issued death threats
inside the plane, the OPEC representatives were taken on
various flights back and forth around the Mediterranean, to
Algiers, then Tripoli, then back to Algiers. After the event,
Yamani stated he was sure Carlos meant to kill him, but at
the end of the affair, Yamani was released unharmed.
After Faisal was assassinated, Yamani gradually lost his
appeal to the House of Saud. The Ministry of Saudi Arabia
was almost entirely composed of Al-Saud princes and
Sheik Yamani was not of royal blood. In 1986, King Fadh
sacked Yamani as oil minister.
At the time of writing, Yamani lives in Jeddah.
242
CULTURE QUIZ
SITUATION 1
You are an expatriate woman you are taking a shopping trip
down town. Where do you sit in the car?
© In the driver's seat.
© In the front passenger's seat.
© In the back passenger's seat.
Comments
Where you sit depends who else is in the car, and your
relationship with them. Under Saudi law, women are not
allowed to drive. So © is not right. Depending on the
circumstances, either © or © could be right. The golden
rule is you should sit next to whoever is your natural male
companion. If you are married, the most suitable person
for this role is your husband. If the husband is unavailable,
your brother or son, if they are over 1 2 years old. If you are
unmarried, the closest member of your family is, in order,
brother or father, then uncle or nephew. If you are riding in
a taxi, you must have a male family member with you.
Culture Quiz 243
SITUATION 2
You are an expatriate woman who has been invited to a
Saudi home. While you are there, you are offered alcohol.
Should you:
© Explain you are a teetotaller and decline.
© Explain you are a reformed alcoholic and decline.
© Say that you understand the rules of the country don't
permit the consumption of alcohol and decline.
© Accept.
Comments
Alcohol, being illegal, can be an awkward issue. The safest
thing is not to drink while in the country, though most people
who are not teetotallers do. © is probably the safest policy.
However, plenty of people have accepted the hospitality as
per ©, and lived to tell the tale.
SITUATION 3
You are in a conference with your Saudi boss and another
Saudi walks in. The boss focuses his attention on the
other person and ignores you completely. What should
you do?
© Quietly leave the room to allow the two Saudis to get on
with it.
© Sit tight and wait until the focus returns to you.
© Offer the Saudis a cup of coffee.
© Interrupt the Saudi conversation, saying that you have
work to do and will return later to finish the conference.
Comments
© is the correct answer.
SITUATION 4
You are invited to a dinner party, installed as guest of honour.
Somewhere during the proceedings your host makes a great
show of giving you a gift. Should you:
244 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
© Decline to accept the gift and denounce the gift giver for
attempted bribery.
O Politely decline to accept the gift.
© Accept the gift, but not open it.
© Open the gift in front of all the guests.
Comments
Gift-giving is widespread. Saudi attitudes to gift-giving are
complex. Neither © or © is correct. If you reject the gift,
however politely, the gift-giver will lose face. However, if you
open the gift (©), you may lose face, if the gift-giver has given
you something that people think you should have already
had yourself, or your family should have given you. Under
the circumstances, you accept the gift, but do not open it.
© is the best policy. Having accepted the gift, the gift and
the act of giving the gift should be quickly forgotten by both
the donor and the recipient.
SITUATION 5
You are playing tennis and the prayer call goes up.
Should you:
© Keep playing.
© Stop playing, and remain on court to resume after prayer
call ends.
© Go home.
Comments
It is in order to keep playing (assuming you are not a Muslim).
Muslims do not expect non-Muslims to drop everything when
the prayer call goes up. However, there is a fair chance, just to
remind you who is boss of this nation, that if you are playing
at night, the lights may be switched off.
SITUATION 6
You have invited a Saudi to your home and he asks for whisky,
what should you do?
Culture Quiz 245
© Say you don't drink.
© Say you do drink, but don't have any whisky, and offer
him some Sidiqui or home brew instead.
© Give him all the whisky he wants.
Comments
Course ® is fraught with peril. If you give a drink to a Saudi,
and he gets into trouble as a result of it, you are in trouble.
In addition, Saudi-expat friendships tend to be fragile. If you
fall out of friendship, the Saudi has the power to inform the
authorities of your activities. If he does, the authorities will
probably act. Option © is not a good idea either for the same
reason. Besides, Saudis don't regard the home brew industry
going on their country highly, either as an activity or for the
quality of its product. Likewise, Sidiqui is considered a low
class drink. To offer it may be considered insulting. All round,
© is the best option.
SITUATION 7
You ring a business associate at his office and someone
answers the telephone. You ask for the person by name. The
voice answers, "Mr Mohammed has not come back yet."
Should you:
© Assume that Mr Mohammad is really there.
© Leave a message for him to return you call.
© Ask where Mr Mohmmad has gone.
© Ask when Mr Mohmmad is likely to return.
Comments
Like in most places, the claim that someone you want to
speak to is out could mean any number of things. Whether
you are likely to a receive a call back in the event you adopt
option © depends on your status with Mr Mohammad. In
most cases, the best option is to try again later.
246 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
SITUATION 8
You are interested in the Muslim religion and are invited to
visit a mosque. Should you:
© Accept.
O Decline.
Comments
There is no rule in Islam precluding non-Muslims from visiting
a mosque. A Western diplomat tells a story of an encounter
at Riyadh Airport with a member of the al Saud family where
he was invited to visit the Airport's ornate mosque. The
diplomat asked under what circumstances a non-Muslim
could visit a mosque in the kingdom. The short answer is that
non-Muslims in the kingdom can visit a mosque so long as
they are invited by an appropriate Muslim. Not all that many
expats visit mosques, for fear of offending the sensibilities of
Muslims, and perhaps this is a good rule to follow. If you do
visit a mosque, be sure to observe the appropriate protocols
such as the removal of shoes.
SITUATION 9
A public execution is to be held in your town. Should you:
© Attend.
© Stay away.
Comments
The answer to this one probably depends more on your
own sensitivities than those of the nation. The national
policy is that all and sundry are encouraged to attend public
executions. But attendance is not compulsory. Executions are
meant to be a deterrent. There are certain executions, such
as stoning to death, where only Muslim males are meant to
participate (apart from the victim who is more likely to be a
woman). If you do go, you have a fair chance of being a minor
attraction. You may be pushed to the front of the crowd so
you get an unrivalled view of the events.
Culture Quiz 247
SITUATION 10
You are introduced to a man wearing a white thobe, a red
and white checked gutra and a black egal. What is his likely
nationality?
© Saudi.
© Palestinian.
©Jordanian.
© Yemeni.
Comments
He is unlikely to be a Yemeni, since Yemenis do not wear
egals. Although Jordanians do wear red and white gutras in
Jordan, they are more likely to wear Western style clothing
in Saudi Arabia— sometimes with gutra and egal. Palestinians
working in Saudi Arabia also tend to wear Western dress—
and if they wear gutra it is likely to be black and white check.
So your new friend is likely to be a Saudi. But you can't
be sure.
248
DO S AND DON TS
DOS
■ Do accept coffee and tea whenever offered.
■ Display a positive attitude towards Saudis.
■ Do tell the Saudis how much you enjoy their country.
■ Dress conservatively — arms and legs of women should be
covered in public.
■ If you are a business visitor, carry your passport wherever
you go.
■ If you are long-term guest worker, carry your Iqama.
■ Refer to Saudi Arabia as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, or
the KSA.
■ Pronounce Saudi as 'So-wu-di' not 'Saw-di'.
■ Ensure your company has a picture of the reigning
monarch in the front office.
■ Keep in touch with the diplomatic mission of your country.
DON'TS
Women
■ As a woman, don't walk around Saudi-occupied areas
unaccompanied by a male member of your family.
Men
■ Don't wear shorts in Saudi areas.
Both Genders
■ Don't go out of your way to press Saudi nationals with
your friendship.
■ Don't touch a member of the opposite sex in public.
■ Don't take photographs without permission.
■ Don't shake hands with Saudi women.
■ Don't discuss politics or religion.
■ Don't admit to any personal failings that might diminish
your role as an employee.
■ Don't carry any pornographic material, including
newspapers with pictures of scantily clad females, into
the country.
Do's and Don'ts 249
Don't have Israeli visa stamps in your passport.
During Ramadam, don't smoke, eat or drink during
daylight hours in front of Saudi nationals.
While sitting cross-legged, don't display the soles of your
feet to anyone in the vicinity.
Don't supply alcohol to Saudis.
250
GLOSSARY
'Arabic names won't go into English exactly, for their consonants
are not the same as ours, and their vowels, like ours, vary from
district to district.'
— T E Lawrence to his proofreader
on the various spellings of Arab names in his book,
Revolt in the Desert, in 1 926
USEFUL PHRASES
Pleasantries
Hello
Marhaba
Hello, peace be upon you
As-salaam alaykum
(Response)
Wa alaykum salaam
How are you
Keefhal-ak
Good
Zane or Kowaies
Praise be to God (I'm fine )
Al-humdoolillah bikhair
Good morning
Sabaah al-khair
(Response)
Sabaah al-nuur
Good evening
Masaa al-khair
(Response)
Masaa an-nuur
Good bye, go in safety
Ma' a salama
(Response)
Allah yisullmak
May God go with you
Fi Amanellah
Nice to meet you
Tasharrafna
Welcome
Ahlan wa sahlan
Excuse me
Asif or Ismahlee
Please
Minfadlak
Thank you
Shukran
You're welcome
Af-wan
Glossary 251
Getting Around
Do you speak English?
Tet kalam Ingleezi?
Do you understand...?
Fa-him?
I don't understand
Ana mafehempt
I don't speak Arabic
Ana laa ta-kalam al-Arabiah
My name is...
Ismi...
What is your name?
Aish ismak?
What is your job?
Aish shoghol?
Where...?
Wain...?
Why...?
Lay'ish...?
How much
Kum
Expensive
Ghaalee
Nothing, none, nobody
Mafee
Yes
Enaam or aiwa
No
Laa
Maybe
Yimken
Arabian Coffee
Gahwa
Water
Moya or moy
Hot
Haarr
Hotel
Foon-dook
Car
Saiyara
Colours
Black
Aswad
White
Abyad
Red
Ahmar
Blue
Azrak
Green
Ahdar
Numbers
Zero
Sifr
One
Wahid
Two
Itnain
252 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Three
Talata
Four
Arba 'a
Five
Khamsa
Six
Sitta
Seven
Sab 'a
Eight
Tamaniya
Nine
Tis'a
Ten
Ashra
Eleven
Ehd-ash
Twelve
Ith-nash
Thirteen
Ta-lat-ash
Fourteen
Aar-bat-ash
Fifteen
Kham-stash
Sixteen
Sit-ash
Seventeen
Sa-bat-ash
Eighteen
Ta-man-tash
Nineteen
Ti-sat-tash
Twenty
Ash-reen
Thirty
Thala-theen
Forty
Ar-ba-een
Fifty
Kham-seen
Sixty
Sit-een
Seventy
Sab-a-een
Eighty
Thaman-een
Ninety
Tis-a-een
One Hundred
Mee-a
253
RESOURCE GUIDE
PHONE COMMUNICATIONS
Saudi Arabia's phone system is provided by a private
company, Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC).
Landlines cover all major centres in the country. In addition
the Global System for Mobiles (GSM) covers 45 Saudi cities
and towns and all major highways. Internet connections are
widely available, though content may be censored more than
most places. International Direct Dialling (IDD) is generally
available. The kingdom's telephone country code is '966'
while the main city codes are:
■ Riyadh 01
■ Jeddah and Mecca 02
■ Al-Jubayl, Al-Dammam and Al-Khobar 03
■ Yanbu 04
■ Mobile 05
The following emergency contact numbers apply:
■ Police 999
■ Fire 998
■ Ambulance 997
Finding a Phone Number
Saudi Arabia publishes an English language phone book, but
extracting information from it is no easy task. The telephone
book lists the name of the owner of the house rather than the
occupant. This makes it almost impossible to find the telephone
number of an expat.
In the classified section of the telephone book, there are
some interesting entries. International consulting companies like
British Aerospace are listed under 'O' for organisations whereas
international companies like Seimens are listed under 'C for
companies. Organisations like the United Nations are listed under
'E' for establishments.
Using a Saudi phone book takes perseverance and imagination.'
—Source: Susan Mackay. The Saudis
254 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
Accommodation arrangements, including phone connection
and payment of phone bills, for almost all guest workers
staying in the country are almost always the responsibility
of the employer. A guest worker would not normally be
expected to or be authorised to arrange phone connections
for landlines. Like other utilities, phone bills will normally be
sent to and paid for by employers.
HEALTH
Most employers include full health care in the employment
package. For those outside this arrangement, Saudi Arabia has
a few top hospitals, but except for routine ailments, provision
of health care services is expensive. Most embassies advise
you to include medical insurance in your arrangements prior
to entry in the country.
A list of hospitals in Saudi Arabia may be obtained at the
following webpage:
http://www.gulfmd.com/hospitals/Major % 20Hospitals %
20in % 20middle % 20east.asp?id = #Saudi % 20Arabia
Dental Clinics
Saudi nationals receive free dental treatment. Dental clinics
are housed within general hospitals or as stand-alone
clinics. Specialist dental hospitals are also available. For
outlying districts and remote villages, mobile dental clinics
are provided.
SCHOOLING
Most regions in the country have access to international
schools. For a complete list of schools available in Saudi
Arabia, you can consult the International Schools website:
http://www.isgdh.org/
Language Schools
Opinions amongst expats differ on the value of language
schools for those who want to learn Arabic. Our general
view is that most language schools are geared to teaching
Classical Arabic, with a strong focus of interest on the Qur'an,
Resource Guide 255
not only for its language, but also for its general philosophy.
Most likely, most expats would prefer to be learning
conversational Arabic devoid of heavy religious overtones.
An alternative to schools is to hire a private tutor. Skills of
private tutors vary enormously. You will probably have to hire
and fire a few to find someone compatible with your needs.
Generally the recommended profile, at least for a start, is
a non-Saudi Arabic speaker, either a non-Saudi Arab or an
Arabic-speaking Third Country National. Details of people
offering such services for your particular regional area in
Saudi Arabia are liberally listed on the Internet and also in
English-language newspapers such as Arab News.
EXPAT CLUBS
Expats visiting Saudi Arabia may obtain support from in-
kingdom expat clubs. People, particularly women, who live
in compounds tend to develop a large variety of common
interest groups within their common living areas. Other expat
groups are more widely spread. For those who wish to contact
expat groups prior to travelling to Saudi Arabia and perhaps
exchange some views in advance of going there, try:
http://www.expatexchange.com/net.cfm7networkid = 97
VOLUNTEER ORGANISATIONS
Opportunities for participating in volunteer work in Saudi
Arabia are very limited due to the various restrictions on
travel, working for anyone other than your designated
employer or, if you are a woman, working for anyone
at all.
NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES
There are two nationally circulated English-language
newspapers in the country: Arab News and Saudi Gazette. In
addition, Riyadh Daily is an English-language paper of more
restricted circulation.
A number of English-language magazines are in circulation
as well, presenting the Arab point of view. It is worth taking a
look at one or two of the English-language Saudi newspapers
256 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
and the magazines to get a more Arab slant on the news
than that presented by the pro-Israeli viewpoint of most of
the Western press.
Copies of magazines imported into the country are
scrutinised by censors. Girlie magazines of the Playboy ilk
are banned in Saudi Arabia and thereby acquire scarcity
value. Copies of Playboy and Penthouse may change hands
for about US$ 100. Western magazines, particularly news
magazines like Newsweek or The Economist are sometimes
banned for carrying politically incorrect articles. For less
serious misdemeanours, offending magazines may be
allowed to go on sale provided that every copy of whatever
article offends the Saudi censor is either cut out or blacked
out by a marker pen-wielding minor bureaucrat. According
to sceptics on this subject, thousands of such government
salaried imams are employed on censoring magazines as a
contribution to solving the unemployment problem.
The marker pen form of censorship is, incidentally,
particularly ineffective. Not only does it draw attention to
an article you might otherwise have missed, the text is
quite legible if the article is held up to the light. If you find
Resource Guide 257
a magazine that contains a column that has been blacked
out by a marker pen, you can assume that underneath the
censor's handiwork lies an article of interest.
Bringing Information to Your Attention
Browsing through a library in Saudi Arabia, the author's attention
was attracted by some Textra colour highlighting in the Guinness
Book of Records under the heading 'The World's Biggest Bribe'. A
Middle Eastern Prince taking his extraordinary dues on some defence
company contract held the record. But for the activities of the censor,
this snippet might have been missed.
Religious texts are also banned, particularly those that
could be construed by Customs officials or the Mutawa'een
as undermining Islamic faith. Books of Common Prayer and
the Bible fall into this category. It is not a good idea to include
Christian prayer books, bibles or other seditious material in
your luggage when entering Saudi Arabia.
WEBSITES
General Information
■ CIA Factbook
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/sa.html
Visa and Travel Information
■ US Department of State: Consular Information Sheet
http : //travel . state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_ 1 1 2 .html
■ Saudi Embassy
http : //www. saudiembassy. net/Travel/Travel . asp
(For more detailed information, click on the relevant
section in the menu on the left.)
Tourist Information
■ US Department of State
http : //www. state, gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3 584.htm
■ Lonely Planet Guide
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/middle_east/
saudi_arabia/
258 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
■ Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia)
http://www.saudiairlines.com
History of Saudi Arabia
■ Library of Congress
(Federal Research Division/Country Studies)
http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/satoc.html
■ The Middle Eastern Network Information Centre
http : //link.lanic.utexas. edu/menic/Countries_and_Regions/
Saudi_Arabia/
■ Arab Countries: Saudi Arabia
http://www.hejleh.com/countries/saudi.html
Islamic Culture
■ British Broadcasting Corporation
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/
■ Zawaj.com
http : //www. zawaj . com/links. html
Job Opportunities
■ Jobs of Arabia (run by Professional Systems and Services)
http://users.aol.com/saudijobs/saudijob.htm
Internet Filtering in Saudi Arabia
■ Jonathan Zittrain and Benjamin Edleman, Berkman Centre
for Internet & Society (Harvard Law School)
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/saudiarabia/
Human Rights Information
■ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (released by
the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour
http://www.state.gOv/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/18288.htm
■ Human Rights Watch
Country Pages: Saudi Arabia
http://www.hrw.org/doc7t = mideast&c = saudia
(For a year by year overview of the Human Rights
Development in the country, click on the respective year
on the right of the page.)
Resource Guide 259
■ Amnesty International: Saudi Arabia
http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/saudi/
FURTHER READING
Included here is a random selection of books that examine
and extend some of the topics covered in CultureShock!
Saudi Arabia, and look more generally at the Middle East as
an area of compelling interest to most of the world. Since
literally thousands of books have been written about the
Middle East, many worthy books will be omitted from the
following short list. We have selected just a small sample
of the literary offerings that we hope covers a range of
viewpoints and subject matters. Most of the books we
have listed take the outsider point of view, since this is
the perspective from which CultureShock! is written. Our
purpose is to detail the likely culture shock experienced by
visitors to Saudi Arabia, not its own citizens. However, we
have also included a sample of books displaying the insider,
the Saudi, viewpoint of their own country. The books are
roughly sorted by topics that do not coincide particularly
with the chapter order of CultureShock!.
Further Reading 261
BOOKS ON HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph. T E Lawrence. London:
Penguin Books Ltd, 2000.
■ The book is included in this section not only because it is a
classic of its genre, but also because it contains some of the
most acute observations of the physical conditions of Saudi
Arabia from the viewpoint of a painstaking observer — the
landscape, the weather, the living conditions and the food
of the pre-oil Bedouin culture. Lawrence's role in Saudi
Arabia wasn't all that well known until the blockbuster film
Lawrence of Arabia portrayed him as the genius military
strategist who 'went Arab', a role that some historians
feel was exaggerated. The book, written by Lawrence, is
an intensely personal account that may well embellish
some of his own achievements. For that reason it has not
been beyond controversy. Some historians also dispute
the book's historical accuracy. For all that, for students of
Saudi Arabia, this is an engrossing read.
The Kingdom: Arabia and the House of Sa 'ud. Robert Lacey.
New York, NY: Avon Books, 1983.
■ This book is somewhat of a standard text. Though now
a bit dated, it is an easy-to-read factual account of the
history of Saudi Arabia through to about the 1 980s. Covers
the tribal aspect of the Saudi society as well as religion,
politics, culture and economy.
A History of Saudi Arabia. Madawi Al-Rasheed. Cambridge,
UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
■ A complement to Lacey's book, A History of Saudi Arabia
covers the same subject from a Saudi perspective. The
book describes the history of this enigmatic country from
inception to the present day, with special reference to the
cultural and social life in the country from a female, Saudi
Arabian perspective.
The Desert King. David A Howarth. London: Quartet Books, 1 980.
■ This is probably the most readable account of one of the
most fascinating men of the 20th century, Ibn Saud, the
262 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
first of the Saudi Kings, the man who spent the first half of
his working life uniting his nation. It is an account of his
origins, his battles, his marriages, his divorces, his many
children and the birth of the oil industry. Though this is
an old book and the story has been told many times by
many different authors, for readability of a fascinating
story, David Howarth's book sets the standard.
Faisal, by Joseph A. Kechichian, 2008.
■ Written by an American academic of Lebanese and Armenian
descent, the book focuses on King Faisal as the policy maker
in shaping the Middle East more than Faisal the man.
BOOKS ON CULTURE SHOCK
The Clash of Civilisations: And the Remaking of the World Order.
Samuel P Huntington. London: The Free Press, 2002.
■ This is a rather long and somewhat technical book written
by a leading academic who is a Professor at Harvard
University making the general point that 'east is east and
west is west, and never the twain shall meet'. Huntington
considers that the gap between western and eastern
cultures is vast, and is not getting any narrower— a point
that we have also tried to make in Culture Shock.
The Clash of Fundamentalism: Crusades, fihad, and Modernity .
by Tariq Ali. London and New York, NY: Verso, 2003.
■ This recent book by UK-based academic, Tariq Ali,
is a controversial, deeply personal and wide ranging
description of the failure of nations to understand each
other and therefore to wage wars of various sorts on
each other. Ali had, by the time this book was published,
established somewhat of a reputation as a radical thinker
who generally opposed the established world order. This
book ranges far and wide, well outside Saudi Arabia, in
examining the interactions between the Islamic world and
the rest of the world. It complements Huntington's book,
and reaches similar conclusions via a different, more
personal route. They say you shouldn't judge a book by
its cover. This book is almost worth buying for its cover
Further Reading 263
alone— a picture of George Bush, computer-enhanced to
look like Osama bin Laden!
BOOKS PRESENTING A WOMAN'S POINT
OF VIEW
Princess: A True Story Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia. Jean P
Sassoon. Minneapolis, MN: Econo-clad Books, 2001.
■ This is the best selling book that lifts a corner of the veil of
secrecy that shrouds women's issues in Saudi Arabia. It is
(or purports to be) the autobiography of a rebellious Saudi
princess living in opulent conditions in a palace in Riyadh.
Princess Sultana writes under a pseudonym using a ghost
author. So specific are descriptions, it's hard to believe that,
if she really exists, she would not have been identified by
her husband and close members of her family. One of the
fascinating questions of the book is the degree to which
it is true.
At the Drop of a Veil. Marianne Alireza. Costa Mesa, CA: The
Blind Owl Press, 2002.
■ The account of Princess Sultana has been contradicted
by some in Saudi Arabia. Defenders of the Saudi Arabian
way of life claim that Princess is a beat up, written by a
woman's rights author for western consumption with the
express purpose of making money. For those who want
to hear the opposite viewpoint— that all is, in fact, well
between womanhood and Saudi culture— an alternative
is At the Drop of a Veil by Marianne Alireza, presents it.
This book is a personalised description of an American
women living in Saudi Arabia and married to a Saudi
man; an arrangement that, according to the author, was
generally satisfactory.
The Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of
Women's Rights in Islam. Fatima Mernissi. Trans. Mary Jo
Lakeland. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1992.
■ Women's role in Islam has received mixed reports.
Muslims make the point that in principle, Islam is not
a misogynist religion. However, Islam, as much as any
264 CultureShock! Saudi Arabia
religion, is bound not only by its holy scriptures but by
those who administer the religion here on earth; and the
Muslim religion (like most others) is administered by men.
Though women are permitted to enter mosques and are
expected to worship the one true God, the administration
of the religion is strictly the province of males. To date,
there are no female mullahs in the Muslim religion.
CURRENT ISSUES IN POLITICS, OIL,
ECONOMICS AND RELIGION
Forbidden Truth: US-Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy and the
Failed Hunt for bin Laden. Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillame
Dasquie. New York, NY: Thunder's Mouth Press/Nation
Books, 2002.
■ We have included this somewhat radical book to present
an alternative viewpoint. This is a highly controversial
'other side' account of the 9-11 attacks on New York, first
written in French by French authors not known for their
mindless obeisance to the US official version of the state
of the world. The book offers clues to the answer of the
intriguing question that was not generally allowed to be
asked of the fatal attacks e.g. why did they do it?; and
an even more intriguing question, did the US authorities
know they were going to do it? The answers, according
to the authors, lie in a murky mix of political intrigue,
oil pipelines across Afghanistan and the ambivalence
of Saudi Arabia in funding Islamic radical organisations
on the one hand, while relying on US as a customer and
defender of the regime on the other. Commercial links
between oil companies associated with George 'Dubya'
Bush and the Bin Laden family well prior to 9-11 are of
particular interest.
BOOKS ON THE ISLAMIC RELIGION
Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet. Karen Armstrong.
London: Phoenix Press, 2001 .
■ Many books have been written on the Prophet Muhammad,
rated by some as the most influential person in human
history. Some are eulogies while others are scathing
Further Reading 265
criticisms. In recommending a book on Muhammad, we
have tried to opt for balance. Karen Armstrong's book is,
we believe, a reliable 'warts and all' account of the life and
times of this astonishing historical individual.
BOOKS ON ETIQUETTE
Living & Working in Saudi Arabia: Your Guide to a Successful
Short or Long-Term Stay . Rosalie Rayburn and Kathleen Bush.
Oxford: How To Books, 2001 .
■ Very similar to CultureShock! , this book is written with the
purpose of advising those going to Saudi Arabia on how
to learn the ropes. In CultureShock!, we have concentrated
more on the cultural differences of Saudi Arabia and
particularly for those coming from the West. Rayburn and
Bush's book is more of a hands-on guide to operating in
Saudi Arabia. A valuable adjunct to CultureShock! for those
bound for Saudi Arabia.
Don 't They Know It's Friday? Cross Cultural Considerations for
Business and Life in the Gulf. Jeremy Williams. Dubai: Gulf
Business Books, 1999.
■ An amusing, practical hands-on guide to the pros and cons
and quirks of doing business in Saudi Arabia. This book
complements and reinforces some of the subjects covered
in CultureShock!.
To Be a Saudi. Hani A Z Yamani. London: Janus Publishing
Co, 1997.
■ There are plenty of books looking into Saudi Arabia from
a Western viewpoint. This is a book looking out of Saudi
Arabia from a Saudi viewpoint, written by an author
who clearly loves his country. It makes some interesting
predictions (not shared by the authors of CultureShock!)
as to where the country is likely to head to from here.
266
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Peter North first started living and working in Asia about
25 years ago. He started writing for Marshall Cavendish
about eight years ago and has now contributed six titles
to the CultureShock! and business reference series. Peter
is also a contributor of articles to various magazines, in
particular Pacific Ecologist. He spends his time pursuing
various interests in environment, current affairs, science and
engineering. Peter's titles include Success Secrets to Maximize
Business in Australia, Success Secrets to Maximize Business in
Britain, Countries of the World: Australia and CultureShock!
Cambodia— all published by Marshall Cavendish, and Growing
for Broke and State in Fear published by Tomorrow Press.
About the Authors 267
Harvey Tripp is a graduate of the University of Melbourne
and has spent most of his corporate life in international
business, holding senior management positions in major
international consumer goods companies including the
management of their operations in the kingdom of Saudi
Arabia. Harvey has lectured on international business,
including how to do business in Saudi Arabia, at a number of
universities in Australia and has been on the advisory boards
of universities and other tertiary institutions to help develop
their international business programs. Harvey has been a
consultant to small and medium sized businesses and has
had interim executive assignments with corporations whose
primary focus is international business. He has also been a
director of small to medium sized Australian companies. He
is the co-author of Success Secrets to Maximise Business in
Hong Kong, Success Secrets to Maximise Business in the United
Arab Emirates and CultureShock! Bahrain.
268
INDEX
A
accommodation 116-119
appliances 122
American English 199
Arabic 192-199
pronunciation guide 193-194
arts
architecture 157-158
literature 159-161
museums 158-159
music 160-161
painting 160
performing arts 160-161
B
Bedouins 71-73
bodily contact 89-90
body language 1 99-200
c
calendar 153-157
cities
Dammam 6,39,73,129,167,
168, 177
Jeddah 6, 34, 61 , 75, 100, 119,
134, 151, 157, 158, 159, 161,
164, 165, 168. 210, 223, 241
Mecca 6,15,16,18,22,23,24,25,
26,27,28,40,70,87, 108,
116,119,145,153,156,157,
158,159,161,162,165,166,
168,170,171,172,173,174,
175,219,240
Medina 22,25,108,153,157,159,
161,166,167,168.174,175
Riyadh 2,6,7,10,16,17,18,19,
39,41,48,54,64,67, 74,75,
96,99, 103, 119, 124, 130,
134,135,146,151.157,158,
159,160,163,164,164,
167, 168, 182, 184,203,233,
234,236,237,239
Taif 165-166
D
domestic help 123
dressing 90-97
abaya 2,58,59,63,70,71,92,93,
94,97, 179, 185,238
gutra 71,84,85,90,125,160
thobe 71,84,85,90,94,160,185
E
economy 202-203
education 73-76,206
entertaining
Bedouin style 142-144
hospitality 140-142
expatriates
dress code 94-97
hierarchy 82-83
long-term immigrants 83-84
religious freedom 98-99
workforce 79-82
F
financial matters 120-121
banking facilities 120-121
currency 120-121
ethics 121
trading hours 121-122
Five Pillars of Islam
27-28,79. 175,209
hajj 6,27,28,29,79,113,167,
170-175
salat 27.31,209,213-215
sawm 27,28
shahadah 27
zakat 27,28,222
food and drink
alcohol 146-148
coffee shops 144-145
restaurants 139-140
traditional food 137-139
funerals 100-101
G
geography 12-14
government 45-48
H
health care 11 6
history 11-12,14-22
Ibn Saud 11,17,18,20,21,22,46,
47,56,94, 156, 164,234,237-239
Inshallah 31,209,213
Index 269
Islam 5,22-35,36,40.54.60,62,
63,68, 69,78,82,90,98,99, 145,
159,166,170,171,206,209,
219,220,234
K
King Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman
Al Saud See Ibn Saud
King Faisal 21,22,40,47.75,
195,202,211,221,239-240,241
L
law 67-70, 101-102
penalties 104-106
M
Mutawa'een 69,70. 86,88,89,97,
98,99,148,164,190,219
P
photography 178-179
Q
qisas 126
Qur'an 18.25,51,55,56,62,63.65,
67, 68, 69,73,75,80,87,88, 92,
94, 101, 121. 130, 159, 160, 179,
192, 209, 217. 219, 220. 221
Hadith 67
Sunnah 67
R
Ramadan 24,27,28,33,34,35,67,
121,155,156,169
rukhsa 127
s
Saudi society
children 54
family 52-54
interaction 55-59
names 54-55
security 1 02- 1 04, 1 06- 1 1
Shariah Law 56,58,67,68,101,
106, 121, 126,217.220,221,222
diya 106,126,127,220
Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani 240-241
shopping 132-134
souq 134,135,150,166,167,
236,237
sightseeing 1 64- 1 67
other countries 1 76- 1 78
sports and recreation
basketball 184
beaches 185-188
camel racing 180-181
falconry 183-184
golf 189
horse racing 1 83
leisure activities 179-180
soccer 184
swimming 189
water sports 189-190
T
telecommunications
post 129-130
radio 132
television 130-132
transportation
accidents 126-128
air 168-169
driving 123-126
taxis 128-129
train 168
u
unemployment 208
v
visas 113-115
w
weddings 100-101
women 59-67
expatriates 86-89
identity 62-65
religion 62
work 65-67
work and business 203-231
bureaucracy 229-231
commercial law 220-221
contacts 227-228
corruption 226-227
criticism 222
employment contracts 2 1 6-2 1 9
income tax 221-222
ownership 224-226
religion 213-216
training 211-213
working relationships 222-224
270
Titles in the CultureShock! series:
Argentina
Hawaii
Sri Lanka
Australia
Hong Kong
Shanghai
Austria
Hungary
Singapore
Bahrain
India
South Africa
Beijing
Ireland
Spain
Belgium
Italy
Sri Lanka
Berlin
Jakarta
Sweden
Bolivia
Japan
Switzerland
Borneo
Korea
Syria
Bulgaria
Laos
Taiwan
Brazil
London
Thailand
Cambodia
Malaysia
Tokyo
Canada
Mauritius
Travel Safe
Chicago
Morocco
Turkey
Chile
Munich
United Arab
China
Myanmar
Emirates
Costa Rica
Netherlands
USA
Cuba
New Zealand
Vancouver
Czech Republic
Norway
Venezuela
Denmark
Pakistan
Ecuador
Paris
Egypt
Philippines
Finland
Portugal
France
Russia
Germany
San Francisco
Great Britain
Saudi Arabia
Greece
Scotland
For more information about any of these titles, please contact any of
our Marshall Cavendish offices around the world (listed on page ii)
or visit our website at:
www.marshallcavendish.com/genref